Promises
by Hot Donna
Summary: Malink love story. Chapter 7 is finally here! Link wakes up and Malon makes a tough decision.
1. Chapter 1: We're At The Beginning

Author's Notes: Okay, heres the deal. I'm a real Malink fan. I've been a Malinker before I even knew about Zelda fan fic. I love those two together. Okay, in this fic. Theres no 'Link been asleep for seven years'. Link and Malon have been best friends for a long time, Link goes off to war occassionally, Gannon is one of the Kings Ally's. He's like the Kings assisstant, I just don't know what to call him. People have suspicions about him, but they dont say anything to his face. I know that Ingo's always the bad guy and he's always the one abusing Malon, but I like him that way because I like it when Link worries about Malon. It's romantic and exciting to read. But anyway, if you have any questions, ask me.  
  
~~~~  
  
Malon huffed as she got to the top of the ladder and rested against the rail before continuing and going inside of the small house. She saw Link silently sleeping on the bed and smiled softly to herself. Holding up her dress with one hand, she walked over and lightly shook him.  
  
"Link… wake up." She hummed shaking his shoulder. "Link, wake up!"  
  
Hopping out of his sleep, he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled a small knife from under his pillow and put it to her neck. Finally realizing who it was, he widened his eyes in shock and let her go. "Malon, I'm so sorry." He stuck the knife in the wooden wall behind him without looking and got up and went to Malon who was holding her heart in shock.  
  
"What in the hell…?" She said looking at him startled. "I told you to stop doing that."  
  
"And I told you to stop waking me up like that." Link told her.  
  
"I'm sorry." She said sadly, trying to hide that she was about to cry.  
  
Sighing softly, he stepped closer to her. "Are Talon and Ingo arguing again?" He asked sympathetically, knowing how those two argued every minute since Ingo had taken over the ranch.  
  
She shook her head, tears accidentally brimming her eyes. "No."  
  
"What happened?" He asked, offering her a seat on his bed.  
  
She sat down and sighed, waiting until he sat beside her to talk. He sat next to her so she began. "Promise you won't tell my father."  
  
Looking at her quizzically, he hesitantly promised. "Alright. I promise."  
  
She pushed a piece of her red hair back behind her ear and sighed. "Ingo…he hit me."  
  
Link felt a fiery rage build up in his chest. Squinting his eyes in anger, he stood up, his eyes searching the room for his sword. "I'll kill him." He mumbled.  
  
Malon shot up in fear and grabbed his hand. "Link, no! He'll kill me!"  
  
Seeing the true fear in her eyes made him even more angry. "He raised his hand to you?" He asked, thinking maybe he heard wrong.  
  
"Link, I angered him okay? That's why he did it. I just…I know if my father knew he'd try to do something to Ingo and he'd get himself fired. It was my doing in the first place, I-"  
  
"It was not your doing! If Ingo raised his filthy hand to you, it is his own doing! And he will pay for it!" He reached for his tunic that was lying on a chair.  
  
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Link, please. I just came here because I didn't feel like being at home tonight. Ingo's still angry with me. I was wondering if I could sleep on the floor. Just until morning."  
  
"I will certainly not let you sleep on the floor." He ruffled his blonde hair with his hand and then slipped his hat on. "You can sleep on the bed as always. I'll be going out."  
  
She sighed. "Link, if you go and fight Ingo then I can never go home again."  
  
"That won't be a problem." He put his sword holder on his back. "I'll just kill Ingo."  
  
"Link, please. Stop this. This is nonsense." She put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"It's nonsense? He hit you." He turned to her. "Where did he hit you? Did it leave a bruise?"  
  
"If I show you, you have to promise me that you won't go." She said sternly, folding her arms across her chest.  
  
"You and your promises." He muttered. "I take it you have a bruise. That knowledge is enough for me to go behead the moron."  
  
Sighing, she looked down at her feet. "I can't believe you're going to go when I'm distinctly telling you that you can't."  
  
"We can't let him get away with it, Malon." He argued.  
  
"I have to let him get away with it, Link. What else can I do?"  
  
"Nothing. You can let me handle it." He smiled shortly and then sheathed his sword on his back.  
  
She set her jawbone firmly. "Fine, you know what? I'm going to go just go Nabooru's house. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I slept over there." She headed towards the door.  
  
He grabbed her arm. "But Malon, you can stay here."  
  
She yanked her arm away. "No I can't. You're not a true friend. A real friend would listen to me when I said that he couldn't go destroy my home." She threw her arms in the air as she continued her way out. "I should not have told you anything!"  
  
"Okay, okay, Malon, come back." He removed his sword and walked out to get her. He climbed down the ladder that she had already climbed down and jogged to catch up with her. "Malon, wait, okay." He grabbed her arm and turned her to him. "I won't go kill Ingo…Today." He smiled softly at her. "But you can still sleep here tonight. I don't want you walking through Hyrule Field at this time and I'm too tired to ride you."  
  
She smiled softly at him. "You are always too tired to do anything, Link. What is it that you possibly do all day to make you this tired."  
  
"Well, I think being the Hero of Time has a little something to do with it, but other than that…" He shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
Furrowing her brows lightly, she looked at him. "Do you have to leave soon?"  
  
He hated the look in her eyes. The look that told him she was scared for him. "I leave the day after tomorrow."  
  
She sighed. "I hate it when you go to war." She told him softly, a small sad smile playing at her lips. "There is no one to talk to. And when my father and Ingo argue, I have only Matthew to go to. And he is just horrid." She rolled her eyes at the thought of him and rested her back on the ladder that led to Link's house. "And I worry about you endlessly." She whispered shyly.  
  
He smiled and rested his arm on the ladder above her, leaning closer to her. "I won't be gone long. Just a week or two. And why don't you stay at Saria's while I'm gone? Or stay here. Just so you won't have to be around Ingo while I'm not around." He was really worried about her now. Ingo had hit her and that didn't sit too well with him.  
  
"I do not know Saria, Link. And my father would be terribly worried if I didn't come home for two weeks." She smiled up at him. "But thank you for caring." She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, accidentally exposing the red bruise on her lower chin.  
  
Link's eyes fell on the bruise and he felt his heart constrict. "He hit your face?" It seemed a lot worse knowing that he raised his hand to her and hit her face. Her beautiful face. "How dare that fool." He brought his hand up and brushed his finger against the wound.  
  
She winced. "Is it bad?"  
  
Cupping her face to get a better look, he shook his head. "I can fix it, but it still doesn't make it right. He is still getting what is coming to him."  
  
After looking away from him, she sighed. She hated it when he felt bad for her. "Well, let's go up. It's kind of chilly out here." She smiled shortly and turned around to climb up the ladder.  
  
"You go ahead. I'm going to stay out here a little while longer." He called to her as she climbed.  
  
"Are you sure?" She stopped climbing and looked down at him.  
  
He looked up at her. "Yes. And I promise, I'm not going to kill Ingo."  
  
She grinned sweetly. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome, princess."  
  
He often called her princess when he had no right to. She wasn't a princess and the both of them knew it, but it didn't stop him from calling her it. But she liked it when he called her princess. It made her feel special. "Am I to take the bed?" She climbed up the rest of the way.  
  
"Of course. What else would I have you do? Sleep on the floor?" He shook his head at her with a smile. "Go, take the bed. Please."  
  
Smiling at him once more, she walked in and stifled a yawn before laying on his comfortable bed and going to sleep.  
  
~~~~  
  
Link and Malon walked through the shopping section of Hyrule Castle looking at the tunics that Link wanted. Tonight was the ball that Link had to attend before he went off to war, so he wanted to buy a new tunic. Malon was just going along because she didn't want to be at home with Ingo. Her father had went to a place near Gerudo Fortress to visit an old friend for three days, so she was going to stay at Link's until her father came back. She was going to avoid every possible alone moment with Ingo.  
  
"What about this one?" Link held up a dark green tunic.  
  
Malon looked at it and then shook her head. "Too plain."  
  
"This one?" He handed her a light blue tunic.  
  
She grabbed it and nodded. "I believe this one will do." She held it up and looked at it. "Although it does seem a bit too big. I will most certainly have to size it for you."  
  
"You don't have to do that, Malon." He told her taking the tunic. "It can be too big. I honestly don't mind."  
  
"But this is an important ball, Link. Zelda is going to be there. Everyone will be counting on you to look your best."  
  
He shrugged. "I don't even want to go really. The balls are so boring, but I just have to go because its recommended." He came across a couple of dresses and thought that they would look really nice on Malon. Suddenly he got an idea. "But it wouldn't be so boring with you there."  
  
Malon looked at him and then shook her head. "I am not going to a ball with you Link. I hate them." She shook her head again.  
  
"Please, Malon. It can be a goodbye gift." He smiled at her.  
  
"Goodbye?" She asked puzzled. "This is not goodbye, this is 'see you later.' And that doesn't need a gift."  
  
He sighed. "But those things are so boring. And you're the only thing that's not boring in my life."  
  
Looking behind him, she saw Zelda coming up. She knew how much Zelda liked Link. "I know something else that's not boring to you." She was pretty sure that Link liked Zelda too. Who wouldn't? She was perfect.  
  
"What?" He asked puzzled, because he was pretty sure that she was the only thing that wasn't boring in his life.  
  
She smiled dryly. "Her." She pointed behind him.  
  
As soon as he turned around Zelda smiled at him and pecked his cheek. "Link, how are you today?" She smiled, bringing her hand up to straighten the part of the tunic around his neck. "You look quite handsome today."  
  
"And you look as beautiful as always, Princess Zelda." He smiled warmly at her.  
  
She blushed and swatted him playfully. "Oh, stop it."   
  
"Please, stop it." Malon muttered to herself, rolling her eyes and turning around to walk the other way. She sighed when she saw Matthew, a boy who had a serious crush on her. He followed her around endlessly, even when she made it clear that his presence was unwanted.  
  
"Malon, you look lovely." He grinned. "What are you shopping for, darling?"  
  
She shook her head and walked past him, trying to see if he would follow her. Unfortunately he did. "I'm shopping for nothing. I just came with Link."  
  
He nodded. "Are you going to the ball as well? If so, I would love to escort you there."  
  
"I am not attending." She told him looking at a pretty lacy dress. It was satin trimmed and was cut like a V in the front. "I wish to stay home and stare at the stars all night."  
  
"That sounds very swell. I wish I could stay home and stare at the stars with you." He put his hand on the small of her back. "I think I will do just that."  
  
She removed his hand. "I would rather be alone."  
  
"You would rather be alone than with me? You must be daft." He laughed. He couldn't believe she didn't like him.  
  
"I am not daft, I am smart. Because I know what a man with your intentions would want." She was becoming angry.  
  
"And what is that?" He asked smugly. This was always how their conversations turned out.  
  
"Something I will never give you. Now please, excuse me." She tried to push past him but he put his hand on her waist and pulled her to him, crushing his lips with hers. She put her hands to his chest and pushed him away, glaring at him disgustedly before storming past Zelda and Link and out of the door.  
  
Link, who had saw the kiss from the corner of his eye, mumbled a goodbye to Zelda before hurrying out to catch up to Malon. "Malon, wait!" He grabbed her arm and turned her to him. "Do you want me to harm him?" He asked angrily.  
  
She knew all she had to do was nod and Link would go back in the store and beat him to a bloody pulp, but she shook her head and brought a hand up to wipe her lips. "It is alright. Let's just finish your shopping so we can go."  
  
"He is too filthy for his own good. I will kill him someday." He gritted his teeth. "I cannot believe he kissed you." He didn't understand why it bothered him as much as it did. Of course Malon was his friend, and anything bad that happened to her made him mad, but he felt something different too.  
  
She looked up at him. "Link, it's not a major concern. Really. It was a simple kiss that I didn't even enjoy." She looked down at the tunic in his hand. "Are you ready to leave or do you wish to flirt with Zelda further?"  
  
"I do not flirt." He said immediately with a small smile playing at his lips.  
  
"Really?" She was emotionless and sarcastic.  
  
He rolled his eyes at her. "Will I be seeing you at the ball?" He changed the subject, peering down at his best friend with a smile.  
  
She rolled her eyes, knowing that she would give in. "Oh alright. I'll go. But I have no decent attire." She began to complain. "And I will have to go home first and fix my hair."  
  
"Why can't you do it at my house?" He asked, dreading the thought of her going back to the Ranch where Ingo was.  
  
"Because my proper hair utensils are there. And besides, the horses are there Link. I surely can't stay away forever." She told him sadly, gently grabbing his hand. "It is my home. It is where I was born and raised. I can't just abandon it."  
  
"So you have to live like a slave?" He gripped her hand. "I will not allow you to live that way, Malon. You do not deserve to be treated like garbage." He looked down at the lovely woman. His best friend. The one who was going through so much pain.  
  
"Link, I will be fine. Ingo was drunk. He may never hit me again." She told him lowly, hoping he couldn't hear her so the subject could change.  
  
"And if he does?" He asked turning her all the way around so he could see her face.  
  
"Link I…"  
  
"No, Malon. If he hits you again, will you tell me? Will you let me handle it?" He had his hand on her upper arm.  
  
She sighed and closed her eyes. "Yes. I will."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
She nodded. "I promise."  
  
He smiled and brought a hand up to cup her cheek. She was so beautiful. Then he pressed his lips to her forehead. "I won't continue to let him hurt you." He murmured against her skin and closing his eyes.  
  
~~~~  
  
What'd you think? Loved it? Hated it? R/R please. I accept flames because whatever you say to me, I'll throw flames right back at you, and believe me, I'll burn yo ass back good! I'm a bitch like that. :::smiles::: 


	2. Chapter 2: Sweet Tenderness

Author's Notes: Okay, another thing. Link is the Hero of Time because prophecies have determined that he is the strongest warrior that exsists and that besides his other life altering battles, he will do something very meaningful in his future. I made that up. But it applies to the story, kay?  
  
~~~~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The ball was big as usual. Princesses danced all around. Princes as well. The warriors and knights didn't dance though. And neither did Princess Zelda. Zelda stayed close to Link and Link stayed close to the King. They were obviously talking about the journey to their place of war.   
  
Nabooru walked up to Malon and smiled. "Hello."  
  
Malon smiled happily, thankful that a friend was there. "Hey, Nabooru." She grinned and pushed a tendril of red hair out of her face. "How are you?"  
  
"Fine. And yourself?"  
  
"Splendid." She smiled and then had to force it to stay there when she heard Zelda laugh at something. She turned around and saw that Zelda had her arm linked with Link's. She rolled her eyes and looked down at the purple satin and laced dress with the V neck that Link had bought for her earlier. "Could these festivities be any more boring?"  
  
"Why did you come?" Nabooru asked.  
  
"Because Link wanted me here. And now I see it was a big mistake because he's not even spending time with me. Zelda is too busy drooling all over his new tunic." She rolled her eyes again, glancing back at Zelda and Link, catching his eye and smiling at him. He smiled back at her brightly.  
  
"I think you should just tell him how you feel." Nabooru smiled.  
  
"Link already knows that I despise these royal events." She said tearing her gaze from Link's and looking at Nabooru.  
  
"No, I mean you should tell him how you really feel. About him."  
  
Malon's eyes widened. "What? You think I have feelings for Link?" Lowering her voice, she leaned forward. "In the sexual sense?"  
  
Nabooru nodded. "It's obvious you do. And it's obvious he has the same feelings for you. You two are practically betrothed already."  
  
"We're just best friends." Malon argued.  
  
"That is highly doubtful that you see him as just a friend."  
  
"Oh Nabooru, bugger off." She waved her hand at the dark skinned red head and walked around her, making her way out of the castle. She needed fresh air. Nabooru had to be crazy. Link had no feelings for her. What would he want with her? He had Zelda. The Princess of Hyrule. Of course he didn't want her. Link could get any woman that he wanted. Of course he wouldn't settle from the plain little farm girl from Lon Lon Ranch. He would never settle for her.  
  
Why was she even thinking about this? She didn't have feelings for Link. He was her best friend. That was absurd. She felt nothing for him but a friendly love. Didn't she? It was normal to feel this strong of a love for a friend, wasn't it? Goddesses, she hoped he was alright when he went off to war.  
  
"So this is where you've run off to." Link chimed coming up behind her.  
  
"Link." She stated turning to face him with a small smile.  
  
"Malon." He smiled back at her. "What are you doing out here?"  
  
She shook her head and looked up at the sky. "Just getting away from everyone for a moment. After all, I am just a simple girl. Large events as such as this one I really don't fancy."  
  
"I could take you to my home now if you prefer." He offered, staring at her as she looked up at the sky looking as beautiful as ever.  
  
"I can just stay until the end." She looked at his deep blue eyes. "Since I'm already here." She smiled softly, letting a short silence fill between them before she spoke again. "I do hope you be careful when you are out to battle." She whispered softly.  
  
He sighed and met her crystal blue eyes. "I'm always careful, Malon."  
  
She put her head down, not sure she could look him in the eyes when she said the next words. "I'm going to miss you terribly."  
  
He looked at the top of her head and smiled. "And I, you." He put his finger under her chin and tilted her head so she could look at him. "I will think of you with every blow I swing. Every enemy I slaughter." He dropped his hand and smirked. "And maybe I will think of Ingo when I execute someone. Pretend that the enemy is him." He pretended to joke about it so he could mask his true anger towards Ingo.  
  
She laughed. "As long as you think of me just a little. That's all I ask."  
  
"I will think of you more than just a little, Malon." He told her seriously.  
  
"Promise?" She grinned small.  
  
"I promise." Locking his eyes on hers, he felt his heart flutter. What was she doing to him? His knee's were lightly buckling. He cleared his throat. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" He forced a halfhearted smile.  
  
She blushed. "Several times, actually."  
  
"I only say what is true." He told her playfully. "You look stunning tonight."  
  
She blushed again. "Link, stop it. You're making me blush." She giggled and stepped closer to him. "I guess you'd better go back inside before the Princess notices you're gone."  
  
He stiffened shortly, then relaxed again, letting his gaze fall on the ground. "She wants to marry me." He looked up and met Malon's gaze. "When I get back from war." He whispered the rest, looking in her eyes, searching for some sort of response but she was just blank.  
  
Malon didn't know what was happening. She should be happy for him that someone as great as Zelda wanted to marry him. But yet here she was, staring at him with widened eyes. Eyes that she could feel stinging with tears. "A-And…do you…want to marry her?" She asked shakily.  
  
Maybe that was all he needed because the look in her eyes told him that he couldn't marry Zelda. Not that he was going to anyway. He didn't love her. He just cared for her like a friend cared for a friend. Malon was a friend though. And he cared for her more than a friend cared for a friend. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he cared for her like a man cared for a woman. "No." He told her simply, bringing a hand up to brush the red tendrils out of her face.  
  
She was shocked by the reaction her body gave the touch of his hand. Many times before he had touched her like this. But right now, this moment, it felt like he meant to make her shiver. He meant to make her want all of his love. That's what it felt like. She swallowed hard and let her lids drop over her eyes. "Link, you should probably go back in now." She whispered.  
  
He let his eyes fall to her lips. He wanted to kiss her. "I don't think that I should." He whispered back, coming closer to her face.  
  
When she felt Link's lips brush up against hers she almost died. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. His soft lips, massaging hers. She rested one hand on his chest as he framed her face with both of his hands. She let out a soft sigh and pulled away from the soft and sensual kiss. Her blue eyes darted up to look at his. She wanted to see what he thought about it. He was staring down at her with the softest hint of a smile.  
  
"Now I should probably go back inside." He mumbled, still keeping one of his hands on her cheek.  
  
"Link…we kissed." She told him, obviously still shocked.  
  
He chuckled and briefly looked down at his feet before looking up at her bewildered blue eyes. "I know." He murmured.  
  
She let her hand tug at his tunic softly. "Why did we? I mean, did you want to kiss me?" Her eyes narrowed gently. She was confused.  
  
With a nervous chuckle, he nodded hesitantly. "Yes. I did. What about you?"  
  
The sides of her mouth curled up into a small grin. "I did too." She briefly bit her bottom lip and looked at his nervousness. It made him all the more adorable. "And I think I want to kiss you again." She admitted bravely.  
  
He looked up shocked for only a second before he smiled and brought his face back down to envelop her lips with his. He cupped her face gently, loving the feel of her satin skin as he kissed her. Her lips were perfect. They fit his too. They fit his perfectly. He groaned quietly as he pulled away for air and to look at her beautiful blue eyes. He had no idea what they were doing.  
  
She pressed her lips together and gazed up at him. "Now you should probably go back." She told him calmly.  
  
He nodded shortly. "Why don't you come in too? I don't think I want you out here alone." He always worried about her. He couldn't help it.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I'm in the Castle Courtyard. What could possibly happen?" She straightened his tunic where her hand had fisted his shirt. She smoothed her hand over it and gazed up at him again. "Now go on. Go inside."  
  
He licked his lips and smiled softly at her. "Alright. But promise me you'll come fetch me before you leave. I want to see you home."  
  
She nodded. "Of course I will." When he didn't walk away, she stood there awkwardly.  
  
Finally giving in, Link bent down and kissed her lips softly. "Come back in soon." He told her, his lips still softly pressed against hers. He backed away and smiled once more before walking off into the castle.  
  
She watched him go with a grin on her face. He was a handsome man indeed. And she had just kissed him. Several times. What had they done? Why had they done it? They would have to discuss it later. Right now, she had a ball to attend.  
  
"Lady Malon, am I correct?" A deep and dark voice came from behind her.  
  
She spun around and noticed Sir Gannondorf behind her. "Yes. How do you do?" She bowed quickly and shortly.  
  
Gannondorf, or Gannon, for short, was the Kings closest ally. He helped the King make decisions, he helped the King decide if they would declare war or not, or what land should be sold or not. Talon, her father, had told her that it was Gannon's fault that Ingo was able to run Lon Lon Ranch. He told her that Gannon had the king brainwashed. Gannon was believed to be evil. Even Link had told her that he didn't have a good feeling about him.  
  
"I am fine. And you?" He responded with a smile.  
  
"I am quite fine." She nodded once and glanced back at the castle. "Well, I should be going now. I am expected to be at the ball."  
  
Gannon watched her as she walked. "He could never be happy with you." His voice was a different tone. An emotionless one. "He and Zelda are meant to be. Don't you understand that?"  
  
She turned to him, hiding the affect that his words had on her. "Well I guess I'll just get as much fun out of it as I can then." She forced a smile and turned to be back on her way.  
  
"You deserve better." His voice had emotion now, or something close to it. "You deserve someone who will love you endlessly. I've been watching you lately. You're a very wonderful woman."  
  
She stopped again, this time looking back at him with quizzical eyes. "Maybe one day I will have that. I am only seventeen. I have a lot of life ahead of me in my future." She said walking only a few steps closer to him.  
  
"Don't always be too sure of that. You never know what life has in store for you." He grinned and stepped closer to her, his suit shining in the moonlight. "But I can tell that you love him. A lot."  
  
"He's my best friend." She said automatically. "I'll always love him."  
  
"Can you say the same for him?" He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her.  
  
She looked up at the man and tears began rimming her eyes. "Of course I can. I too, am his best friend."  
  
He nodded slowly and looked up when he saw someone standing in the doorway. "Nabooru." He stated. "Long time, no see." He tilted his head to the side. "You look wonderful."  
  
She set her jaw firmly and marched over to Malon, grabbing the young woman by her arm and pulling her away from Gannon. "Stay away from her, okay? In fact, stay away from every woman in Hyrule." She hissed through gritted teeth.  
  
He chuckled. "Jealous?"  
  
She snorted sarcastically. "Hardly." Swinging her head around, she looked at Malon. "Let's go back inside." She guided Malon into the castle with her and when they got far enough from the courtyard, she looked at Malon with somewhat of a panicked look. "Don't ever go near that man again, Malon. He is dangerous. Very dangerous."  
  
Malon looked baffled. "What is so dangerous about him?"  
  
"Just listen to me. Stay. Away. From Gannon." Her eyes pierced firmly into Malon's until the confused and frightened redhead nodded.  
  
"Okay." Malon nodded solemnly and watched Nabooru storm away with a flustered look.   
  
Malon didn't understand.  
  
~~~  
  
The ball was ending, and Nabooru caught up to Link from the crowd of people that were exiting. She grabbed him by his sleeve and pulled him to her. He spun around and smiled at the woman.  
  
"Hey Nabooru, I haven't seen you all night." He hugged her and she hugged him back softly and stiffly. He felt the stiffness. "Is something wrong?"  
  
She sighed heavily and looked around herself to make sure no one was listening. "Gannon, his day of birth is coming soon. And not just any day of birth, his thirtieth one." She looked up into Link's eyes, "It is Gerudo tradition that he is wed on his thirtieth day of birth."  
  
Link looked puzzled and shrugged slightly. "What's wrong with that?"  
  
She bit on the inside of her lip, never taking her gaze off of Link's. "This is about the time that he would start working on a woman. Trying to shower her with his charm so she would want to wed him. He'd pick a woman, and most likely, he'd get her."  
  
"Nabooru, I don't understand. What's the meaning of this?" His brows were furrowed.  
  
She looked around briefly and leaned forward to make sure that only Link heard her. "And he's picked the woman he wants. He has his eyes set on her." She sighed lowly. "It's Malon."  
  
Link felt his head buzz with numbness, his body turned rigid. There was no way Gannon was going to marry Malon. The Malon that he had just been kissing a mere hour and a half ago. It wasn't going to happen. Never. His fists clenched at his sides as he thought about the possibilities of him watching Malon walking down the aisle with Gannon of all people.  
  
"Link, are you alright?" Nabooru asked putting a hand on his arm.  
  
He nodded distractedly. "Where's Malon? Have you seen her?"  
  
"I saw her earlier. She was with Gannon in the courtyard, but I quickly got her out of there." She explained. "But I don't know where she is at the moment."  
  
Link almost lost control knowing that Malon was alone with Gannon. It made him want to punch a hole in a wall or two. "I have to go find her." He looked around from where he stood, beginning the search already. "I'll talk with you later." He put a reassuring hand on her arm and then walked past her, in search of Malon.  
  
After almost twenty minutes of searching, he finally found her sitting on a short brick railing, her face planted in her hands. He could tell she was crying. He could see her shoulders shaking. And even though he'd found her, he didn't sigh in relief. He felt his heart breaking as he watched her.  
  
Slowly, he made his way over to her. "Malon, what's wrong?"  
  
She looked up shocked, her face wet with tears. "Nothing." She lied.  
  
"Malon, you can't sit here and tell me nothing. You're crying." He sat next to her, putting a hand around her shoulders.  
  
Hesitantly she shrugged away his arm. "Link, I just…I really want to be alone."  
  
He shook his head. "Malon, I'm not leaving you alone." He watched her as she used the back of her hands to wipe away the tears. "Is this about us? The kissing?" He felt a pain in his heart. Of course that's why she was crying.  
  
She looked at him sadly. "It's not because of the kissing, it's what was behind the kissing. What caused it? What do we have for each other? Feelings?" She asked rhetorically with a sarcastic snort. "You and I both know that we could never be together." She stood up and smoothed down the material of her dress.  
  
"Why not?" Link asked puzzled and standing to his feet also. He had every intention of being with her.  
  
"Because. You're meant to marry someone like Zelda. Not someone like me."  
  
"Malon, what do you mean someone like Zelda? I don't want to be with her, I want to be with you." He told her caringly, stepping close to her. "Malon, we can't sit here and argue over this. I don't want Zelda. I want you."  
  
She shook her head. "No. No, you don't. You want Zelda. You want her." She cried.  
  
"No, I don't." He spoke softly. "I want you." He grabbed her face between his hands and moved her head so that she was looking directly at him. "Malon…I love you."  
  
Her soft sniffling stopped. Her eyes locked with his. He really did love her. "You promise?" She asked steadily.  
  
He nodded surely. "I promise." He bent down and took her lips in his again. He'd been craving her kisses all night. Ever since he'd kissed her the first time, he wanted to keep doing it. He didn't know what was getting into him. He never knew that he cared so strongly for her. Well, he always knew he did, but he never imagined that he'd kiss her. That he'd tell her that he loved her. But with this new found love, they were perfect.  
  
After a long moment they pulled apart, and he rested her forehead against hers. There was no way that Gannon was going to take her away from him. He'd fight for her if he had to. "You ready to head home?"  
  
She looked up at him. She knew it was late and that it was time for him to go to war. "Don't you have to get going?" She asked.  
  
He shrugged. "I'll catch up to them if they begin to head out before I come back." He pushed a piece of her hair out of her face. "Ready?"  
  
She nodded. "I guess we can be off."  
  
Clearing his throat, he naturally grabbed her hand, threading his fingers through it. "Now I'll be leaving Epona here with you while I'm gone. I won't have you walking through Hyrule while I'm not around. And if anything happens, go to Saria's house next door to mines. Tell her you're my friend and she'll be happy to help you." He grabbed her by her waist and guided her onto Epona. "And when it's time for you to go back home…" He sighed, dreading the thought. "I don't want you to give Ingo a hard time while I'm gone, just stay out of his way, because if he lays a hand on you again…"  
  
"Link, I understand." She told him stroking his cheek. She hadn't been home by herself since the night that Ingo had hit her. Link always made up another excuse for her to stay away from that house by herself. Even earlier, when she went there to clean herself up and do her hair, he was right there watching Ingo's every move.  
  
Link smiled up at her softly. "I just want you to be safe." He told her calmly. "I don't want anything to happen to you."  
  
"Nothing will happen to me." She assured him.  
  
He hopped on his all black horse named Shadow. "I still worry." He told her as his horse began trotting next to hers.  
  
"You shouldn't." She said sleepily.  
  
He gazed at her, wondering why he hadn't pursued anything with her sooner. "I talked to Nabooru." He said gazing away from her.  
  
She shook her head, knowing what he meant by that. "I don't understand, why is Gannon such a dangerous man?"  
  
"He's just very powerful, Mal. We're not exactly sure what he's capable of, but we're sure he's capable of something."  
  
"If he's so dangerous, how come he hasn't done anything to Hyrule in all this time?" She questioned, her voice still sleepy.  
  
"That's what we're all wondering." He mumbled. "He's probably just waiting for the right time."  
  
"What makes you think he's up to something?" Malon asked curiously, her sleepy eyes struggling to stay open.  
  
"Because he's just so mysterious. And I have a bad feeling about him." He swallowed hard thinking about Gannon and the fact that he had picked Malon. He looked over at her and noticed that she was sleepy. "Here. Stop." He said stopping to hop off of Shadow.  
  
She watched him confused as he came over to her and Epona. "What are you doing?"  
  
He grabbed her by her waist and gently helped her down. "You're sleepy. I'm going to let you sleep. I'm riding you home." He led her over to Shadow and helped her up. He climbed up behind her and turned to Epona. "Come on, follow us girl." He turned back to Malon who was now cuddled up against his chest. He rested his head on top of hers and sighed. Gannon. He couldn't stop thinking about it. "Malon, are you sleep?" He asked softly, just in case she was.  
  
"MmmMmm." She answered tiredly.  
  
He sighed and looked briefly down at her. "I want you to promise me something." He said gently. "Promise me that you'll stay away from Gannon." He knew Gannon wasn't going with the army for war, and why the Gerudo man wasn't going, he didn't know. But he did know that if Gannon did anything to Malon he would kill him.  
  
"Why? What aren't you telling me?" She asked softly.  
  
"Nothing. I just think he's dangerous and I want you to stay away from him, alright?" He looked down at her, his lips right next to her ear.  
  
She nodded. "Alright." She yawned out. "Now, let me sleep, will you?" Her sleepy voice had a playful ring to it.  
  
He chuckled softly. "Alright." 


	3. Chapter 3: Daunting Night

Author's Notes: Yeah, I have some more Author's notes. Anyway, Saria isn't small in this. She's like Malon's height, and so are most of the other Kokiri people. Does that kill it? It does? Well, damn. Sorry, but hope you like it anyway. J Oh, and remember, Malon has to go home because she doesn't want Talon to worry about her. Don't forget to R/R, kay? Thanks.  
  
~~~~  
  
Malon brushed her frustrating red hair into a ponytail and placed a small band on it so it would stay that way. Smiling softly into the mirror, she touched her hands to her lips and remembered Link's sweet kisses. She wondered what he was doing right now. Was he thinking about her? He probably wasn't. Link was at war. He had more important things to concentrate on.  
  
Packing the last of her bag, Malon sighed and slung the heavy item over her shoulder by it's strap. She was headed home. She didn't want to go there. It was safe at Link's, just being in his home. Smelling his familiar scent whenever she slept. But she had to go home or her father would be terribly worried about her.  
  
She walked out the door slowly, finding a green haired girl about the same age as her climbing up the ladder. When the girl saw Malon, her eyes grew slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. You must be a friend of Link's." Saria smiled.  
  
Malon nodded. "Yes. I am. I am Malon." She grinned as she held her hand out for the girl to shake.  
  
Saria shook the girls hand, a small, forced smile forming on her lips. "Are you staying here while Link is gone?"  
  
Malon looked back inside Link's place. "I was. But now, I'm going home before my father starts to worry about me." She smiled.  
  
Saria nodded. "Oh, well, Link didn't mention anything about this to me. That's why I was asking."  
  
Malon smiled shortly, getting the feeling that Saria didn't like her. "Well I must be on my way before it gets dark."  
  
Saria watched as Malon went past her and climbed down the ladder. "I'll see you around, Malon." She said as she would be required to by Link.  
  
Malon gave Saria one last goodbye smile before walking away from Link's home. She wondered what Saria was doing up there on his porch. She had wanted to ask her, but didn't because that would seem too straight forward. She didn't even know the girl. So she left, holding onto the strap that laced her shoulder. The strap that held her bag.  
  
~~~~~  
  
She hopped off of Epona, rubbing the horses mane and smiling at it. Epona had done a good job of trotting nice and quietly to Lon Lon Ranch. She didn't go too fast or too slow. She went at the pace that Malon needed. The pace that gave her a chance to think everything over. She thought about her life and how it had changed in a split second. It changed the moment Link had touched her that way.  
  
She signaled for Epona to trot away from her and she watched as the talented horse galloped towards the field where the other horses were. The smile on her face quickly left when she heard the door slam behind her. She tightened her eyes shut and dreaded what was expected of her next. She slowly turned around, her eyes catching the heated glint in Ingo's.  
  
"Where've you been?" He yelled at her.  
  
She flinched at his tone but quickly recovered. "I got lost…in the woods. I'm so sorry."  
  
His eyes searched her, and when he didn't note the insincerity, he rolled his eyes. "Well get to work. Go grab a broom and catch up, you lazy wench." He mumbled more incoherent things to her and then went back in the house.  
  
She sighed in relief and placed a hand over her heart. She wondered where her father was. She decided to clean up first and then go find him, she didn't want to give Ingo anything to argue at her about.  
  
~~~~  
  
Link slapped the freshly churned butter on his bread as he distractedly thought about Malon. He wondered what she was doing and if she was alright. He knew he should be concentrating on what was before him, like the battle they were fighting against some difficult samurais who had tried to invade Hyrule, but his mind wouldn't let him do it.  
  
He chewed the buttered bread ruthlessly, his mind clouding over with thoughts of her. What if Ingo was hitting her again? What if Gannon had gotten to her? He glanced at Shadow, the thought of going home crossing his mind. He could come back, he just needed to check on her. He needed to make sure he was alright.  
  
"Why are you up so late, son?" And older soldier emerged from his tent. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"  
  
Link looked over at the man with a soft sigh. "I'm not tired."  
  
Sitting near the fire that Link sat in front of, the man plopped on the log across from Link with a grunt. "Yep. Me either."  
  
Link scratched his head, his mind still stuck on the same thing it had been stuck on ever since he rode away from Kokiri forest and left her there. He stared into the fire, the flickers of red reminding him of her beautiful hair.  
  
The man looked from the fire to Link's eyes and snorted. "You got a misses you can't wait to get back to?" He asked gruffly.  
  
Link nodded. "Yes."  
  
"Me, I got a wife and a couple of little ones back in Kakariko Village. I'm worried sick about them." He told Link truthfully. "I always go off to war, but this time, it just seems different." His eyes squinted. "I don't feel good about it this time."  
  
Almost scared to ask, Link stared straight at the man. "About what?"  
  
"About leaving them there." He shook his head. "I got this feeling in me that when we go back home, nothing's going to be the same."  
  
Link stared at the gruff dirty man across from him with blue, wide and worried eyes. He had that feeling too. That's probably why he was so worried. Not only because of Ingo's abuse and Gannon's newfound interest in Malon, but because he had that feeling in the gut of his stomach. Malon, and possibly Hyrule, was in trouble. "Well, we must go home." His eyes lit up with determination as he stood.  
  
"Go home? Boy, are you crazy?" The man asked standing up himself.  
  
"The captain should send a little less than half the men home, just in case something is wrong." His eyes were serious and so was he.  
  
"Captain isn't going to send half the army home because we got a feeling in our gut."  
  
"Well then I'm leaving." Link dusted off the back of his tunic, securing his weapons.  
  
"What? Are you crazy?" The man furrowed his brows and watched Link gather his things.  
  
"I'll be damned if I sit back and let something happen to Malon." His eyes shone with fortitude as he hopped on top of Shadow effortlessly.  
  
"And what am I to say if they come a looking for you?" He knew that Link was well known. Prophecies had named him the Hero of Time.  
  
He looked at the dingy man. "Tell them I went to save my love." And he galloped away into the night.  
  
~~~~  
  
Malon's head jerked up from her pillow when she heard the thud downstairs. It wasn't a normal thud, it was somebody breaking into the Ranch. Her heart raced. She didn't know what to do. Was she supposed to go see who it was. There it went again, another thud. She swallowed as she pulled the blanket higher over her head. Her eyes darted back in fourth as if it would provide her ears with a better sense of hearing. She could hear the muffled voices and the soft but rough footsteps. They had on heavy boots. They were men.  
  
She threw the covers off of her body and took a few long strides towards the window. Hurriedly she climbed out and sat on the roof, out of the windows view. Her red locks fell over her face and shoulders as she turned her head towards the window, trying to see if someone came bursting into her room. As she waited, she felt her body slide down some. The roof wasn't rough enough to hold her. She was going to start slipping down if she didn't find some sort of way to hold on. She gripped her nails into the wood of the roof, almost losing that grip when she heard the door to her bedroom burst open.  
  
Malon gasped lightly as she heard them throwing things around, tossing her things carelessly around the room. Where was Ingo or her father? "Oh dear." She whispered to herself.  
  
"We have to find that girl." A man said angrily. "Gannon wants her before the soldiers come back."  
  
"We'll find her." The other man assured. "Where haven't we checked?"  
  
"Kokiri Forest and the Gerudo Fortress." The first man answered.  
  
"The forest is off limits for us. And the fortress…I'm am not challenging those women. That is like asking for death."  
  
"The village. Let's go there."  
  
"Of course, we haven't been there." The second man answered, throwing another large object before marching out of her room. The first man followed him.  
  
Malon listened puzzled. What did Gannon want her for? She needed answers, and she needed to leave before they caught her. But the horses and the cuckoos. Who would tend to them properly? Ingo sure wouldn't and her father hadn't come home yet. She had to get to Nabooru. She most likely knew something. She had warned her of Gannon. So she would find Nabooru, but for now, she decided to stay on the roof.  
  
She sighed to herself and laid her head on the wall behind her. Oh, how she needed Link. She gazed up at the stars, wondering where he was. 


	4. Chapter 4: The Sky Was Crying

Author's Notes: Hey people, thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them. I hope you like this next chapter, I didn't spend very much time on it, but it should be good.  
  
The Sky Was Crying  
  
As dawn's early light hit the gravel covered ground, Link's horse, Shadow, trampled rapidly through the open fields. He had to get home. He hadn't stopped riding. He needed to get to her. He just needed to make sure that she was okay. He would never be able to live with himself if she wasn't. He couldn't live knowing that he let something happen to her.  
  
His eyes almost clouded with tears at the thought, but he quickly pushed the thought away. When did she start meaning this much to him? When did he fall in love with her? He wondered, because he was in deep, deep love. The kind that he would die for. He'd never ever been in love like this before. He'd never been in love. Not before her.  
  
~~~~  
  
When the sun hit the earth, Malon brought a hand up to wipe away the tears from her face. She was such a crybaby, she knew that, but sometimes she couldn't help it. Things were too overwhelming for her. The stuff that happened to her always had a major effect on her. It always tampered with her emotions. She sniffled as she carefully moved from her position on the roof and carefully climbed through her bedroom window.  
  
She crawled inside quietly, why, she really didn't know. It was probably just in case the people who had been looking for her were still there. She looked around her messy room. It was scary that they were that intent on finding her. They'd thrown her furniture around the place. She sighed to herself as she walked out of her room and headed downstairs.  
  
"Ingo?" She called cautiously. "Are you there?" She craned her neck to look down stairs before taking the last steps down the couple of stairs and looking out into the front room. "Ingo? Papa?" She called for her housemates. But they weren't there.  
  
Even with her night gown on, she opened the front door and peeked outside. It was eerily quiet. The horses were awfully stiff, and the cuckoos hardly made a sound. With her bare feet, she stepped outside onto the cold, damp grass, a shiver slipping up her spine from the crisp morning air.  
  
"Papa?" She called again thinking maybe he'd slept in the stables with the horses if he did come home. "Ingo?" She could feel her throat constricting with pain, and she knew that she might cry soon, but she couldn't hold it in.  
  
She crept into the barn, slowly pushing the door ajar, the loud creak filling the room. She poked her head inside looking into the darkness. She saw nothing. Malon opened the door wider, the barely there light from the sun helping her see inside. Letting her see doom.  
  
Her eyes widened when she saw that most of the horses were gone. The cows, some were slain, lying on the ground helplessly, and some cuckoos too. Dead. They had killed her precious animals. Her friends. Tears clouded her eyes as she looked around, her heart breaking with the sight of the sloppily tossed hay, the smell of lifelessness came wafting through her nostrils.  
  
Malon's sadness came to a halt when she heard the faint galloping of a horse. Whipping around to shut the barn door, she pushed her back up against it, searching for a place to hide in the dim shelter. She spotted a box in the corner and sprinted towards it, crawling behind it and crouching down to hide herself. Tears slipped past her lids as she sat there, hoping whoever was coming wouldn't find her.  
  
~~~~  
  
Link hopped off of Shadow before the slick black horse even came to a stop. He jogged to the front door of her house, wishing he could open it and just see her sitting at the table, eggs being cooked, bacon being made. He wanted normalcy. Link wanted her to be okay. He needed her to be.  
  
He opened the door and let himself in. He opened how the door was punctured, like someone had forced themselves in. That scared him. "Malon?" He saw the furniture scattered across the place, everything misplaced, like it had been thrown across the room. "Malon?" He asked again to the open air, this time, his voice was filled with more concern. More fear.  
  
Link's strong legs carried him up the stairs and into her room where he saw all of her things strewn across her room. He felt his heart tauten at the thought of where she was. He never should have left her knowing that Gannon was after her. It had to be the work of Gannon. He could feel it. He grabbed his head and closed his eyes, letting a soft sigh escape. Never had imagined anything happening to her. He'd imagined it, but her never imagined that it would come true.  
  
Stepping backwards as if the room were pushing him away, he kept his eyes clamped shut as he walked out. Until he was to the stairs did he dare open them. He stumbled down the steps, his mind creating him some horrible thoughts. "Malon!" He yelled for her in a panic, rushing outside and looking towards the small field where the horses usually were. They weren't there. He ran to the door of the stables, pushing it open and letting the light spill in, what little light there was. "Malon." He called one last time, his voice cracking with failure. He'd failed.  
  
A sniffle was heard, followed by a shuffle of dry hay. Red, disheveled hair poked up from behind the box. "Link?" She asked with a mix of disbelief and relief. "Oh my goddesses, Link."  
  
He felt his stomach flip flop at the sight of her. "Malon." He breathed out, sprinting towards her.  
  
  
  
"Link." She cried, standing up and meeting him, jumping in his arms. "What are you doing here?" Hot tears streamed down her face.  
  
"I came to save you. I knew something was wrong." He breathed into her hair.  
  
"They were looking for me. Gannon wants me." She cried into the crook of his neck. "He sent some men to look for me…I was so scared." Malon's voice cracked.  
  
"I'm here now, Malon." He whispered, brushing down her hair with her palm. "Where's Talon? Where's Ingo?"  
  
Malon sniffed and looked up at Link's eyes. "I don't know. I haven't heard from Ingo since last night."  
  
"Did he touch you?" Link asked warningly.  
  
She shook her head. "No, he did nothing. But those men, they were looking for me. They came last night looking for me. I don't know where my father is, I haven't seen Ingo anywhere, I'm so scared." She whimpered into his shoulder as he rubbed her hair.  
  
"Shh. Malon, it's alright. I'm here now. Nobody's going to hurt you." He hugged her close.  
  
"Why does Gannon want me?" She asked into his now wet tunic. She felt his body tense and then looked up at his blue, hazy eyes. "Do you know why he wants me?" She had a feeling that he did.  
  
He saw that small line set firmly between her brows that indicated that she was angry. Link sighed. "Malon, I haven't known very long-"  
  
"You knew?" She asked angrily backing away from his embrace. "Why does he want me?"  
  
"Malon…"  
  
"Tell me. What does he want with me?" She was terribly angry.  
  
Link sighed and looked around the dark lit room before looking back at her. "He wants to marry you."  
  
Malon's eyes doubled in size. "He wants what?"  
  
"He wants to marry you." Link repeated softly.  
  
Malon put her hand up to her chest as she gasped. "Why?" She asked appalled at the news.  
  
Instead of telling her the obvious reasons; because she was beautiful, because she was smart, because she was the best woman ever born, he sighed and told her what she could handle. "I don't know. But I do know that he'll never get to touch you."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Malon propped her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you tell me that that mad man wanted to marry me?" Rage oozed out of her words.  
  
"I didn't want you to worry." He said stepping closer to her. "I didn't want it on your mind while I was gone."  
  
"Well if I would have had knowledge of it, I would have been prepared for mad men breaking into my house trying to kidnap me!" She almost yelled.  
  
"I didn't even expect that to happen, Malon." Link told her truthfully. If he would have known that someone would have tried to break into her home, he would have never left. "It's just that when I went off to war I…I got a bad feeling about Hyrule." He paused. "I got a bad feeling about you."  
  
"I'm just fine." She brushed the hay from her dress and then looked up, her jaw set firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be going."  
  
"Going where?" He tried to grab her arm as she walked past him but she fiercely shrugged it off. Link followed after her. "Malon, you cannot be mad that I tried to protect you."  
  
"It was not protection." She said opening the door to her home and swiftly walking inside. "You didn't tell me something as important as Gannon's uncanny interest in me." As she marched up the stairs, she looked back at him. "I don't know what we are to each other anymore, but we used to be best friends."  
  
Her words cut him deep. What did she mean she didn't know what they were to each other anymore? They were lovers. Weren't they? He told her he loved her…but she'd never said it back. What if she didn't love him? Walking behind her and into her disheveled room, Link's brows lightly furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean you don't know what we are to each other?"  
  
Malon bent over and grabbed a sweater that she had knitted off of the floor. "I meant exactly that. We have not talked about pursuing any sort of relationship." She brushed it off before she slipped her sweater on, avoiding his eyes, afraid to see if hurt swam inside of them.  
  
"Well," Link started, "let us talk about it now." A hint of anger sifted through his posture but his words were calm and caring. "I love you, Malon. And not like a friend loves a friend, but I love you like a man loves his wife." His eyes tightened on her when she refused to look at him. "I think I love you even more than that." He whispered.  
  
Malon looked up, meeting his eyes. Finally meeting them. "Why?" She asked shakily. "Why do you love me? Gannon was right. You can't love me-"  
  
"Gannon?" He asked stepping closer. "What did he say to you?"  
  
"He didn't say anything that wasn't true." She defended. "The night of the ball, he said that you and Zelda are meant to be and-"  
  
"I do not want Zelda!" Link didn't yell at her, but it was more like he said it loud enough to get his point across without startling or frightening her. "If I must tell you that every time the sun rises, I will. Because I want you to know," he cupped her face in his hands, "I will always love and want only you."  
  
The wet emotions from his words stubbornly rimmed her eyes. "But-"  
  
"There are no buts, my darling." He told her sweetly. "I do not want Zelda. She is but a mere person to me."  
  
Bringing her hand up to wipe away her tears, she looked back into his sincere blue orbs. "Promise?" Her hoarse voice cracked.  
  
Link nodded slowly. "I promise."  
  
She smiled and brought her hands up to wrap them around his neck. "I missed you so much." The red headed farm girl looked up into his face.  
  
He sighed in relief. "I think I missed you more." Link murmured, lowering his head to kiss her soft lips.  
  
Malon's mind was enraptured. This was Link she was kissing. The prophetical Hero of Time. She played with the hair at the nape of his neck as he protectively placed his hands on her waist. He let go, his lips grazing hers before he sighed and lifted his head to place a soft kiss on her forehead.  
  
"I love you, Malon." Link whispered carefully so that she knew he really meant it.  
  
She grinned, she couldn't help it, the words went so good with her. "I love you too, Link." Malon whispered back in his ear.  
  
He dropped his lids over his eyes and soaked the moment into his memory. Link loved her so much, every second, his love for her grew. Link wanted nothing more than to be with her forever. It was the first time she'd actually said the words, and it relaxed him.  
  
After standing there for at least ten minutes, Malon looked up at his blue eyes. "Why does he want to marry me?"  
  
Caging his anger for Gannon inside of him so that Malon wouldn't think that it was directed towards her, he grunted. "I don't know. Nabooru didn't give me full details."  
  
"Can we go see Nabooru? I honestly want to know why he's chosen me when he has so many women to choose from." She hooked a piece of her red hair behind her ear.  
  
Link nodded slowly and slid his hands down her arms until they were clasped with her hands. "Of course we can go see her." He smiled crookedly. "Anything you want."  
  
She returned the small smile and threaded her fingers with his. "You know," she started as they began walking out of the polluted house, "you're my hero."  
  
Link smiled, the gesture not entirely touching his eyes. "I'm not your hero. I just love you utterly too much to let anything hurtful happen to you." But inwardly he was beginning to wonder if he could really protect her from everything. If he hadn't of come back, there was no telling what could've happened to her.  
  
"That's a hero, Link." Malon smiled up at her boyfriend. "You're my hero."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Link slowly trotted into Gerudo Valley on Epona with Malon quietly laying against his chest sleeping. She'd told him that she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before because she had been sitting on the rooftop afraid and crying. It broke his heart to know that he wasn't there to fight the fools off or to hold her as she cried. He wanted to be there so she would have had no reason to cry. It always hurt when Malon cried. It always stabbed him the wrong way when tears fell down her face.  
  
The light drizzle that had started while they were riding through Hyrule Field was beating down on the earth a little more fierce and Link could tell that an unexpected storm was headed Hyrule's way. He stopped Epona right in front of the Gerudo training center and smiled at Atanna.  
  
"Link." The dark woman with the short red hair said. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine." He smiled his hello. "Is Nabooru around? I must speak with her immediately." Link's voice was in a hushed tone, he was trying not to wake Malon.  
  
Atanna saw the alertness in Link's eyes and nodded. "She is in her private headquarters. I will summon her for you." She walked away urgently to find Nabooru.  
  
He was shielding the rain from her with his body and a large cover that he had thrown over her body. Link looked down at her, his eyes checking to see if she was okay. With his half glove-covered hand, Link smoothed down her pretty red hair. He brushed his lips over the cold skin on her forehead and sighed, his mind drifting to Gannon. He would never let that monster steal Malon away from him. Ever.  
  
"Hey kid." Nabooru said walking up to Link with Atanna by her side. She wasn't surprised at all that he wasn't off to battle. She had a feeling he would come back to protect Malon. Nabooru was surprised he even left. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Malon and I want to know why Gannon wants to marry her." He was blunt with it.  
  
Nabooru's face fell straight and she looked towards Atanna. "Leave us." After Atanna bowed and left obediently, Nabooru looked up at Link, her face serious. "Do not speak of this before other Gerudo casualties." She hissed. "They are not to know."  
  
Link nodded, obeying her silently. "I am sorry." He told her earnestly. "Now, can we please get her out of the rain?"  
  
She cut her eyes at him, still angry at his outburst but reluctantly nodded. "Of course. Come inside." Without another word, she turned around and got out of the drizzle.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Surprisingly, Link had gotten Malon inside and into a bed and she managed to stay asleep the whole time. She was probably too tired for words. Kneeling down, he pulled the cover up on her so that she was covered from the neck down, then he brought a hand up and swiped some of her silky hair out of her face.  
  
"You really love her, don't you?" A voice came from the doorway.  
  
"With every ounce of my being." He kept looking at his woman, softly stroking the side of her face. "Now please tell me, why does he want her?"  
  
Nabooru cleared her throat and leaned away from the doorway. "Come here, kid." She walked away.  
  
Link stood up and placed a small kiss on her forehead before turning around and following Nabooru out of the small room. He walked into her small kitchen where she was making both him and her a cup of tea. "So tell me, why Malon?"  
  
Nabooru walked towards Link and handed him a tin mug. "Why Malon, you ask?" She looked down at her own cup. "Because she's beautiful. She's wonderful."  
  
"That is really the reason? He really has genuine interest in her?" It wasn't hard for him to believe that someone would want to betroth Malon for those reasons, but Gannon wasn't the type to go for a woman like Malon without ulterior motives.  
  
The dark redhead sighed. "The king has already told you that prophecies have seen you as our future Hero of Time." She looked up and met his eyes. "But the king did not tell you everything. Gannon convinced him to withhold things from you."  
  
"How do you know if they were withheld?" He asked almost accusingly.  
  
"Because the prophets that told the king of these visions are from Colossus Desert. They told me that I should know what they had seen. They had a feeling that Gannon would convince the King to withhold information." Nabooru sat her tea on the sturdy wooden table in the middle of her small kitchen and let out a deep breath. "In the amendable visions, the prophets saw you being forced into marrying Princess Zelda."  
  
Link frowned. "That is impossible."  
  
"Link, it was an amendable vision. Amendable visions can be changed. Unwavering visions cannot. Like when the prophets saw that you were the Hero of Time. That was unwavering." She explained. "As I was saying before, with you being forced to marry Zelda, Gannon would marry Malon, to hurt you of course. He knows that you would do anything for her. Therefore he would use her as the source to make you do anything he wants you to. Because you do/will withhold great power. You're our Hero of Time."  
  
"That imbecile." Link cursed angrily, slamming his cup down on the table. "If I were to kill him now, he would-"  
  
"Link, you mustn't!" Nabooru said urgently placing a hand on his arm. "Gannon is very powerful. You cannot just destroy him."  
  
"The hell I can't." He hissed. "And I swear, if he so much as looks at her again, I will carve his eyeballs right out of their sockets." Link grunted angrily. "Why didn't you tell me this before now?"  
  
"I couldn't have just told you." She pointed to him. "I knew you would react this way. You always lose your temper when it comes to Malon."  
  
"Then why are you telling me now?" He couldn't help but be angry with her. He could have been had dealt with Gannon if he'd known this news sooner.  
  
"Because Gannon is working on his plan now. He's putting it into action much quicker than I thought he would. While you were off to war he was supposed to wed Malon."  
  
"Malon would never wed that monster." Link spat.  
  
"He was going to hoodwink her into it." She cleared her throat and let out a soft whiff of air. "Ingo works for Malon. Gannon told Ingo to give Malon a hard time. He told him to raise his hand to her if he had to so when the time came, he could come visit the ranch and ask her if she wanted to stay at the castle so she wouldn't be subjected to Ingo's abuse."  
  
Link's eyes widened in realization. "He was going to pretend to be her hero." It was supposed to be a question but didn't end up that way.  
  
"Yes. It was supposed to take place the day after you went off to war, but when he went to Lon Lon Ranch, she wasn't there." Nabooru took a seat in a chair at the table of hers. "So he just sent some guards to go kidnap her just in case she had caught on and had purposely been staying away from Lon Lon Ranch in the day time."  
  
"That happened last night. She told me about it. She slept on the roof." He gritted his teeth, trying to contain himself. "What am I supposed to do?" Link asked so helplessly that he felt his heart break.  
  
"You could get her out of Hyrule, but then the Hyrulians would all be in grave danger." Nabooru watched him somberly. She knew he loved Malon dearly, but Link had a lot of friends in Hyrule and he would never forgive himself if anything happened to them.  
  
"What else can I do?" Link's words dripping with sadness. He couldn't just let Hyrule down. He was there hero.  
  
Nabooru used her slender fingers to massage her forehead. "Link…"  
  
When she said his name, he knew something was wrong. Something that she wasn't telling him. "Nabooru, tell me. What is it?"  
  
She sighed and looked up at his emotional blue eyes. "Link, the prophets also told me something else. Another vision that was unwavering."  
  
"Nabooru, what was it?" He pushed, his heart speeding in his chest.  
  
"They saw one of you…dying." Unshed tears swam in her eyes. "Either you or Malon are going to die."  
  
And then it was silent as the rain began pounding even harder on the roof of Nabooru's place.  
  
The sky itself, had begun to cry.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Loved it? Hated it? Let me know….and flames are accepted as I've said before. 


	5. Chapter 5: Love Is Desired, Not Required

Authors Notes: Sorry I took so long, this chapter was kind of complicated for me. But it's here now. Hope you like it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The two lovers sat on the horizontally laid tree trunk. The red headed farm girl glanced from the crackling fire to the blonde headed boy with strife in his eyes. "Link, are you alright?" Malon had asked for the hundredth time that day.  
  
Moving the burning wood with the stick, Link shrugged. "I'm fine."  
  
"You don't look fine." She said scooting closer to him. "You can tell me what's wrong. I am nothing but your best friend." Malon bumped his leg playfully with hers and then leaned forward to look at him, offering him a soft smile. "You can tell me anything."  
  
"I can't tell you everything." He snapped, not knowing why his anger was directed towards her. It was anger for Gannon.  
  
She jumped back at the harshness in his words, the small smile that she had given him had faded. "Oh." Malon cleared her throat and stood up, dusting the front of her dress off. "Well then. I'll leave you to…whatever it is that's troubling you." Malon quietly walked away.  
  
"Malon, wait…" He knew that he had hurt her. And he didn't mean to, but things were troubling him at the moment. Either he was going to die, or Malon was going to die. And basically, the possibility of the latter was tearing him apart inside.  
  
But she didn't wait. She kept on walking. Malon walked faster until she couldn't hear the fire burning behind her anymore. Her face was twisted up in a frown, a sad frown. She didn't mean to push his buttons. She just wanted him to talk to her. She wanted Link to tell her what was on his mind. That was all she asked.  
  
Malon plopped down on a wooden box, her legs dangling from it as she stared out into the cold night. They were still in Gerudo fortress, Link said that they should stay here for a while. She hugged her body with her arms and sighed shakily. Malon hated not knowing what was going on.  
  
"Hey, Malon." Nabooru came and sat next to her friend. "What's wrong?"  
  
Malon shrugged. "I don't know what I did to make him mad." She said sadly. "He's been angry with me all day."  
  
"He's surely not angry with you. That is impossible." Nabooru assured her.  
  
"No, he's angry with me. I can tell. I just need to figure out what I've done." Malon looked up at the dark woman. "Did he tell you what I did?"  
  
Nabooru shook her head. "Trust me, he's not angry with you at all." She put her hand on Malon's knee. "He just had a rough day. Link's going through things at the moment."  
  
"And I want to help him go through these things." Malon argued. "I used to always help him. He could talk about anything with me. When he became the Hero of Time, he came straight to the ranch and told me." She pointed her finger to her chest. "And now he's closing himself off. Link's never done that before."  
  
"There's just some things that he doesn't know how to tell you right now." Nabooru said seriously.  
  
Malon stared into the woman's multi colored eyes, suspicion radiating from her own body. "Did he tell you something? Is there something I should know?" It was like Nabooru's eyes started saying everything that she couldn't tell Malon verbally. "Is this about Gannon? Is it?"  
  
Nabooru decided to look away, her eyes were telling too much.  
  
"It is, isn't it?" Malon asked pleadingly, getting upset when Nabooru didn't answer. "You have to tell me something. I'm tired of being in the dark about these things. It involves me too."  
  
Nabooru sighed. "Malon, it's-"  
  
"Let me." Link's voice came from behind them. "Let me tell her."  
  
Nabooru and Malon looked back at the approaching hero. "Okay." Nabooru answered, hopping onto her feet and looking back at Malon with a soft smile. "I'll see you later on then?"  
  
Malon nodded. "Of course."  
  
Nabooru nodded and then looked at Link with concern before walking away.  
  
When she was out of earshot, Link sighed and slowly walked over to Malon, sighing again and coming between her parted legs. Nervously, he looked up at her, briefly making eye contact. "Hi."  
  
Malon offered him a crooked smile. "Hi." She repeated. Seeing that he didn't want to look up at her, she put her smooth palm on his cheek.  
  
The coldness of her skin startled him and he looked up at her face, his hands instinctively coming up to rub her bare arms. "Malon, you're freezing. We could go inside so you won't freeze or-"  
  
"Link, tell me what's wrong. Did I do something?" Her face was mixed with confusion and concern all at once.  
  
His brows knitted as he shook his head, his hands still lessening her coldness. "No. Malon, you did nothing. And I'm so sorry that I snapped at you it's just that…" Link's eyes drifted towards the ground behind her as he thought about the possibilities of her dying.  
  
"It's just what, Link? Tell me. Please." She lowered her head to meet his eyes.  
  
And knowing that he could never deny her of anything, he stared back into her desperate blue eyes and swallowed and sighed at the same time, a strangled, jagged sound escaping his mouth with that gesture. "Malon, Nabooru told me some things today, while you were sleeping." He kept his eyes trained on hers, his calloused hands dropping to softly rest on her upper thighs. "They weren't good things."  
  
Malon searched his eyes with hers, hoping she could see some kind of answers like she did in Nabooru's eyes. She couldn't, so she lowly whispered, "Go on."  
  
"She told me the reason Gannon wanted to marry you. It's to get to me. To make me follow his orders. He knows that I would do anything for your safety." Link saw her lip tremble and felt a sharp pain go through his throat. This was harder than he thought. "And, she told me another thing. She said I would be married to Zelda."  
  
"But those are lies, aren't they? How would she know?" Her eyes stubbornly clouded over with tears.  
  
"They were prophecies." He brought a hand up and caressed her cheek gently, swiping the stray tear that had fallen. "But those prophecies can be changed. They're changeable." Link assured.  
  
"Is that all?" She knew it couldn't be all. She just knew it. Because she never got off that easy. He said that they could be changed, so of course, that wasn't all. Nothing ever went good for her.  
  
He shook his head, his eyes briefly moving to look down at her hands. "No." Link took his hand away from her face and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. "There is something else."  
  
"What is it? Tell me." Her heart beat unsteadily in her chest, she knew no good news would come out. She saw the fear and uncertainty reeling in Link's eyes. Hovering over his face.  
  
"Malon…" he started, licking his dry lips and sighing, his warm breath hitting her face, "she did tell me something that couldn't be changed." He paused shortly. "One of us…you or I…we're going to pass away. Soon."  
  
As crisp, searing tears fogged up her eyes, making it hard for her to see straight, she shrugged, feigning a nonchalant act. "So what? We had to die someday, didn't we?"  
  
He knew what she was doing, when something was extremely scary to her, she tried to ignore. She tried her hardest to ignore it. "Malon, I promise you, it won't be you."  
  
"And I promise you it won't be you." She shot back, her teary eyes, determined.  
  
"You can't do that." Link told her.  
  
"Why? I mean, Link, you are the Hero of Time. It is obvious that the person who will die will be me." She said almost angrily.  
  
And he had thought about that. But he wanted it to be unreal. He thought that maybe there was a possibility that he would die and go down in history as the Hero of Time. Link couldn't handle life without her. "Malon, it could just as well be me."  
  
"But look at the odds of that?" Her big blue eyes looked up at his helplessly, lifeless tears raced down her cheeks although her voice hardly sounded as one of a crying woman. "And believe me when I say, the odds are entirely against me."  
  
"Does my promise not mean anything to you?" His words were forced and his voice was stern. "I promised you that you would not be the one dying, and I intend on keeping that promise. Don't I keep them all?" Link asked, crooking his finger under her chin and lifting her head to look at him intently.  
  
She rolled her eyes and looked away from him, shying her face away from the touch of his hand. "Of course your promises mean something to me, Link. It's just, maybe this time, you're making one you probably cannot keep. You do not own fate. You cannot predict what will happen. Prophets can. And prophets said that one of us will die. They also said you would be the Hero of Time, they-"  
  
"Stop." He hushed her gently, bringing his fingers to her lips. "Don't argue about this with me."  
  
"No. I will argue. Because you're telling me that it won't be me that dies if one of us must. I do not want to even fathom the possibility of me living my life without you. It would be harder than death itself." Malon's voice turned into a strained whisper. "I love you."  
  
Link took his hand and cupped the side of her face. He couldn't stop touching her. "I love you too." He leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his lips. "I love you too." He murmured against her smooth, cold skin.  
  
Finally, Malon clenched her eyes shut and tried to conceal the warm tears that wanted to break free. But the concealment was no use. They broke through anyway. And she broke down, right there in his arms.  
  
He smoothed her hair down with his hand as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Malon, it's okay. Don't cry, sweetheart." Link's whisper was soothing.  
  
~o~  
  
Malon opened her eyes, the moonlight was pouring through the thin curtain, illuminating the manly physique of the man's face beside her. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arm was wrapped protectively around her waist, her other arm was laid across his chest, his other arm was above her head, his hand bending to tangle in her hair. She loved sleeping with him this way. It felt good and she felt safe.  
  
She took her finger and traced the curve of his perfect lips with it. Malon smiled faintly when she saw him twitch lightly, and then his tongue darted out and tasted the skin of her finger. Malon chuckled softly and scooted up so that she could be closer to him. She hovered over his face, crookedly smiling at how utterly handsome he was.  
  
"What are you doing?" He asked groggily, his eyes fluttering open to look at her.  
  
"Watching you sleep." She answered, her smile brightening a notch.  
  
"Really?" Link asked teasingly, tightening his arms around her hips and pulling her even closer to him than she already was. He placed an open mouth kiss on her neck, then on her jaw line and then on her soft mouth.  
  
"Mmmhmm." She replied with his mouth clamped to hers. Malon shifted directly on top of him, deepening the kiss and tangling her fingers through his golden locks.  
  
Link weakened the kiss and then reluctantly pulled away, placing a soft peck on her lips at the end of their intense kissing session. Catching his breath, he smiled up at her, bringing his hand up from its position on her hip to play with the tips of her hair.  
  
"It is awfully nice of Nabooru to let us stay here." Malon pushed a piece of his golden hair out of his face. "But as much as I do appreciate this…I think maybe I should-"  
  
"Go home?" He asked, his brows instantly furrowing in confusion. "But what if they find you? They came to your house looking for you. To go back to that place would be and astonishingly dense action."  
  
Jerking her head back in minor offense, her face turned more grim. "That place," she said sarcastically, using the words he had used, "is my home. It's where I grew up. It's…it's where my mother died. It's gravely important to me." Raising her body up off of him, she used one hand to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. "And my father…I have to find him, I don't know where he is and I…"  
  
Link raised up as she did. "Malon, I'm sorry if I offended you. But all I'm saying is that going back there is just setting yourself up. He'll surely find you." He watched her confusedly as she crawled out of bed.  
  
"But what about my father?" She asked him standing up, her arms folded tightly across her chest. "Am I just supposed to forget about him? I would've stayed for the horses, but majority of them were slaughtered." Malon swallowed the lump in her throat as she glared at him. "I have to go back one day."  
  
Link moved his mouth to speak but heard some faint ruckus outside of their small loft. His eyes narrowed lightly as he grabbed his sword from near the head of the bed and hopped up swiftly, using his free hand to snake it around Malon's waist protectively. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" She asked worriedly, her eyes darting back in forth in the semi-darkness.  
  
"Wait." Link whispered, looking intently at the curtains. He saw a shadow lurking around their window. "Look." He told her.  
  
She turned around, looking at the window he was staring at and saw some big man's shadow near it. "Oh my." Malon breathed out.  
  
Link licked his lips. "Malon-"  
  
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!" A Gerudo woman's voice blared from somewhere outside.  
  
The door to their small temporary home burst open and a big tall man with a spear revealed himself, a smug grin covered his face. "Give us the girl."  
  
Link yanked his head towards the bed, telling Malon silently to go there. "Over my dead body." He said to the man, his eyes trained on him the whole time.  
  
"Your wish is," he stepped closer, "my command."  
  
Malon watched wide-eyed from the bed as Link charged the man with his sword, instantly tearing into the flesh on his shoulder. She gasped in horror when in response, the man poked his spear at Link but missed by only a hair.  
  
In a matter of seconds, the man fell to his knees, gasping for air and holding his hand to his chest. His other hand dropped the spear as he breathed his last breaths and fell limp on the cold cement floor.  
  
Link panted heavily as he turned around to stare at Malon who's eyes were wide with horror and shock. He never wanted her to see a thing like that. Especially with him doing a thing like that, but he had to protect her. "Come on, we have to get out of here."  
  
Still shocked, she climbed from the bed and stumbled towards him, grabbing his outstretched hand as she stepped over the dead mans body. "Link…" Malon frowned at the dead body and felt bile rising in her throat. It was amazing how quickly Link had changed. He had always been so sweet and gentle with her, and yet when it came to someone else, he was careless and heartless, sparing no mercy at all.  
  
"Come on." He squeezed her hand and walked out of the room, looking both ways before running across the gravely opening.  
  
The swift sound of arrows flying past their ears made Malon scream each time. Link ushered her to duck behind a box and then he ducked next to her, breathing heavily with his sword in his hand.  
  
"Malon, I have to go back and get my bow and arrows. Take this." He gave her a small dagger. "I will be right back so this should help you." He leaned over and kissed her lips softly before getting up and running back.  
  
Malon was shocked. She had never seen anything like this before in her life. As she ran her eyes across the Fortress, she could hear swords clinking, flesh being cut into, she could hear yells of victory and cries of agony. And then instantly, she felt a hot sharp pain shot through her shoulder, throbbing came shortly after. She felt strained tears come to her eyes as she dropped the dagger from her hand and put it up to her shoulder which was now clamped to the box she was leaned against with an arrow. She looked at the arrow, the blood that was pouring down her arm and she screamed in anguish and ripped it from her flesh.  
  
A terrified, petrified, painful screech left her mouth as she dropped the piece of wood and put her hand to her shoulder. Blood seeped through the cracks between her fingers. She heard footsteps and suddenly she didn't want Link to see her like this. But it was nothing she could do.  
  
Link slid to a stop beside her and his eyes never looked at her. "I have to go help them fight." He said putting an arrow in his bow. "I cannot find Nabooru and I think she's…" His words trailed off when he saw the blood on her hand and saw her struggling to keep in her cries. "Malon! What happened?!" He dropped his bow and got on his knees and pressed his hand to her wound. When she hissed, he let go. "Malon, I am so sorry. Who did this? What happened? Are you alright? Malon, you…you're bleeding."  
  
"I know." She sucked in a breath. "Just go fight."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, I am not leaving you here like this." He put his arm under her knees and his other arm behind her back. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here."  
  
"What about Nabooru. We cannot leave her." Her voice was getting weak. "We cannot…"  
  
Link looked down at her and saw her eyes drifting shut. "Malon?" He shook her body, trying to wake her. "Malon? Wake up. Darling please, wake up." When he shook her again and she wouldn't wake up, he stood up and ran as fast as he could towards the exit of the fortress. He had to get her some help. Link couldn't let her die. 


	6. Chapter 6: Drifting Apart

Malon's blue eyes flickered open, the bright sunlight hitting her pupils. She closed her eyes hastily, fighting away the sunlight. She then reopened her eyes, just slower and more careful this time.

Her head turned, her dilating eyes scanned the unfamiliar room. She had no idea where she was or what the pain was in her shoulder. Then she remembered, the arrow. It had pierced her flesh without warning. Tearing through her skin like a knife. She tried to raise up a little but hissed when the pain in her shoulder worsened.

She got frightened when she felt a body shifting beside her, she moved her head over more and saw Link laying there next to her, his arm thrown over her waist. It felt so natural for his body to touch hers that she hadn't even noticed it.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, and when he saw her staring at him, he sat up alertly, moving easily as not to hurt her. "Malon, are you okay? How do you feel?" Link pushed a piece of her hair out of her face.

She winced as she felt a small pain go through her shoulder. "I am fine. It just hurts a little." She assured.

He watched as she struggled to shift to a more comfortable position. "Let me help you." Link offered.

She shook her head. "I can do it. I am fine." She reassured, finally getting into the position she desired. "There." She sighed of relief.

Link stared at her, worry still coating his features. "Malon, I don't know what to do." His voice was light. "All this time, I thought you were going to..." His voice trailed off and he sighed, "for the first time in my entire life, I was truly scared."

"But you have nothing to be scared of anymore. I am alive. And don't feel bad at all. I feel like I will be walking in a couple of minutes now." She grabbed his hand. "I am fine, Link."

"But the prophecies." He shook his head. "They said one of us would die and it could have easily been you. If that arrow had been a few inches over..."

"But it wasn't. The arrow was not a few inches over. It only hit my shoulder. Don't worry about it." She smiled softly when he looked at her. "I am perfectly fine."

He rubbed her hand softly. "I thought about leaving you here when you woke up. I could go slaughter Gannon and then come back to get you." He sucked in a breath. "But this place could go under siege just as well as Gerudo's fortress did." He carefully shifted so that he was laying next to her again. "I must be the one to protect you. But look how well I did last time." He said sarcastically then met her eyes seriously. "I could have gotten you killed, Malon."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Link, it was a stray arrow. They were not specifically aiming for me."

"How can you be sure?" He asked softly.

"Because... I just am." She answered, carefully scooting towards him.

"Why would Gerudo fortress be under attack? They had to be looking for you. The first guy I killed demanded that I hand you over." Link sat up slightly. "Does Gannon know that you're friends with Nabooru?"

Malon carefully nodded. "Speaking of her, where is Nabooru?" She briefly looked around. "And where are we?"

"We're in Kakariko Village." He sighed softly. "Nabooru is at Kuaka's house."

"Is she alright?" Malon wondered.

Link nodded. "She's fine. Just a few cuts and bruises."

Malon sighed heavily, gazing at Link. "So what will we do?"

"Wait until Gannon shows himself." He said tiredly.

"How long will that take?" She probed, her blue orbs searching his for possible answers.

"I have no idea." Link shrugged, carefully cupping her face and pulling her lips towards his.

Malon slowly fell into the kiss, resting her good hand against his bare chest. When she pulled away, she smiled, brushing her cheek against his. "I should go see Nabooru."

"I think you should stay here with me." He mumbled, trailing kisses down her chin and to the crook of her neck.

Malon moved her head to the side, giving him better access with a smile on her face. "Link, I must go see her. I'll be worried all day if I do not make sure she is okay."

Sighing softly, he placed a gentle kiss on her wounded shoulder. "Very well."

She lowered her head so her eyes were meeting his. "I promise to spend time with you when you get some rest."

"Rest?" He questioned with a humorous grin. "I need no such thing."

"Link..." She said warningly, a smirk on her face. "You look exhausted."

"Thank you for that." He spoke dryly. "That truly uplifts my ego."

Malon chuckled and playfully hit his shoulder. "Just get some rest, Link. I'll be at Nabooru's. And when you wake up, you can come fetch me and we'll spend the rest of our time together."

"Shouldn't you be resting too?" He ran his hand over her shoulder with care.

"I am very awake." She scooted to the edge of the bed. "I have never felt more awake in my life." She smiled sincerely.

Link fought back a yawn as he stood up, stretching his hand out to help her stand up. "At least let me walk with you there. You know how I am about your safety."

"Yes I do." She smirked, wrapping her arm around his neck. "Completely overprotective."

He rested a hand against her injured arm, staring down at it. "Not protective enough." His voice was light.

"You got me out of there safe and sound." Malon reassured, meeting his eyes again. "This is just a little scratch. You saved my life." She pecked his nose with her rosy lips.

Link pressed his lips against her forehead. "I promise nothing will ever happen to you again." His arms locked around her waist, holding onto her in a desperate attempt at comfort.

"I believe you." She whispered, reveling in his embrace. "I believe you."

Link walked outside with a yawn, his eyes immediately searching for Malon. Some said he was overprotective, the way he had stayed with her all the while she was sleeping. The way his eyes automatically scanned for her whenever she wasn't in sight. But if they only knew the circumstances. They would say he wasn't protective enough.

He spotted her bright red hair not too far off talking with the Cuckoo lady he remembered as Mary and some man he didn't really recognize. He watched the unfamiliar man as he gazed at Malon, taking a silent liking to her. There was something about the man's eyes he didn't like. They held an eerie familiarity.

By this time, he had made it to the three of them. "Hi." He waved at Mary and then looked suspiciously at the man. "I don't believe I know you."

"You don't." His voice was creepy. "I'm new here. I am Ingram." He reached his hand out to Link. "You must be the gentleman this beautiful young lady has been talking about." He tightened his long, dark shawl over his shoulders.

"Yes, this is him." Malon seemed to step behind Link. "I love him dearly." She said pointedly to Ingram.

"And I love her." Link spoke to Ingram wrapping his arm around Malon.

"I'm not sure who wouldn't." He smirked at Malon. "She's an amazing woman." He never took his eyes off her.

Malon smiled uneasily and looked up at Link. "Did you want to stay and talk with us?"

Mary yawned slightly and waved her hand at Malon. "That is quite alright, dear. You two should be going inside now. I myself am getting a bit weary." She smiled at Malon. "Run along now and get some rest. I want your arm to get better."

Malon smiled at the nice woman. "I will. Thank you."

Mary smiled up at Link. "Keep on looking after her, sir."

"Of course." Link drew Malon closer, his eyes briefly leaving Ingram to smile at her. "I would never do otherwise."

Mary chuckled, adoring the love between the two. "Goodbye. And please, be careful my dear." She said towards Malon.

"I will." Malon waved and looked towards Ingram. "Bye." She said quickly to him, grabbing Link's arm and pulling him along with her until they were near the front of the house. She glimpsed back at Ingram. "There is something terribly bizarre about that man." She hissed so he wouldn't feel as if they were talking about him.

"I know." Link glanced back at Ingram as an eerie wind blew over them. "We should leave."

"Leave the village?" She questioned in bemusement, looking up at him.

"Yes. The village." As he answered her, the sky rumbled with thunder and a heavy rain fell quickly, drenching them in mere seconds.

Malon looked up at the sky, her hair clinging to her face with a small smile. "I think the goddesses want us to do otherwise." She loved the rain.

Link looked up at the sky also, pulling Malon to him when she flinched at the sudden strike of lightening. He knew how she loved the rain but wasn't too fond of the thunder and lightening. "We should still leave. This is a bad sign."

"The rain?" She questioned doubtfully.

"Not just the rain." He gazed into her eyes. "The thunder and lightening." A giant raindrop fell across his lashes, forcing him to close his eye, so he added a slow nod. "And the rain."

"You think this rain has to do with Gannon?" She asked loudly, over the noisy downpour.

Gradually, Link's eyes squinted in realization, his eyes searching for Ingram. "It was him." He whispered inaudibly.

"Pardon me?" Her bottom lip trembled from the cold as she looked up at him. "What was who?"

"Ingram." He growled, looking down at her. "Go into the house. Lock the doors." He let her go, his hand moving to his back, reaching for his sword.

"But Link-"

"Just go!" He snapped, his eyes boring into her fiercely, a fear lurking behind them.

"You do not yell at me." She raised her brows in shock, appalled by his tone.

"Malon, if you would just listen to me and go into the house I wouldn't have to." He gritted, his eyes trained on her sparkling blue ones. "Just listen to me."

"Why must you insist on treating me like a child?" She argued. "I am a woman. Or nearly a woman. You are just a few months older than me, do not treat me like I am under you."

"Malon, I don't have the time for this. If you want to be angry with me, then by all means, be angry with me. But just go into the house and lock the doors." He said pleadingly, anger still evident inside of him. He wished she would just hurry.

She narrowed her eyes in anger. "Fine. I'll go." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she turned on her heel and trudged through the muddy space between Link and the house. She looked back before going into the house and watched him look for a place to start before running off towards a destination.

She laughed bitterly and shook her head. "All he cares about is killing Gannon." She spoke softly to herself, walking through the door, feeling comfort at the warmth. "I know he's doing it for me, but it's taking him over." As soon as she closed the door and locked it, a hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her little waist.

She squirmed and tried to yell, hurting her arm in the process. And her eyes finally landed on the dark figure in the corner. It was him. Link had been right.

She watched in fear as Ingram's form slowly shifted into Gannondorf's. "Lady Malon." He walked over to her, running his pale brown finger across her damp face, brushing the drenched strands away from her skin. "Lovely Malon."

She squirmed in her captor's grip but it was all in vain.

"Don't be afraid. I just want to marry you." He whispered with a dark chuckle.

She squiggled harder, trying her best to break free.

"And if I can't marry you, I'll kill you. And you're precious Link." Her squirming stopped and he chortled evilly. "Yes, I knew that would stop you. You love him dearly, don't you?"

She didn't answer, she just eyed him as if he was a hideous creature. After all, he _was_ a hideous creature.

"I know you do. But you have to believe me when I say, that little bastard has been spreading tittle-tattles about me. Telling the King and the King's men that I'm evil." He balled his fist tightly. "The King and Princess Zelda have even began questioning my motives and I can not have that."

Malon watched him, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Unsure of why he was even telling her these things.

"And since every Gerudo man must be married on his thirtieth, and my thirtieth is soon to come, I figure why not you. I can use you to destroy Link." He ran his rough finger down her exposed neck. "Among many other things." He smiled with evilness, his eyes meeting her frightened ones.

His touch made her skin crawl, but tears didn't cloud her eyes. She just watched him, unsure of how to react.

"I was sure you're little hero would catch on to who I was." He shrugged, dropping his hand from her skin. "He's a very predictable man." Gannon raised his eyes to the man that was holding Malon. "I guess it's time we got her out of here before that blonde fool realizes what's going on." Magically, his form shifted back into Ingram's.

The man holding her released his arm quickly to unlock the door, then regained his tight grip on her before she could attempt to escape. She swallowed thickly as they made it into the blistering rain, the cold stinging her skin. Two black horses laced in silver armor awaited them, horses that hadn't been there before. They were latched onto a black carriage that the man had opened the door to and thrown her into.

She landed in the corner, eyeing the man cautiously as Gannon in the shape of Ingram climbed in after him and shut the door. The carriage hurriedly began to move, obviously to avoid the man she was in love with.

"You will not get away with this. I do not even know why it is you try." She smirked sulkily.

"Ah, but how wrong you are, my love." Ingram smiled. "As soon as we are out of this village, I will have gotten away with it."

"That is if Link let's you get out of this village. You underestimate his strength and courage." Malon warned with a leer. "He is the Hero of Time. You a merely an insect buzzing in his way."

Ingram chuckled. "You are wrong, my preciousness." He gave her eyes a stern look. "I am the Destroyer of Time. He must defeat me and many others to become the Hero of Time and that, my love... is very hard to achieve."

The carriage came to a screeching halt and Malon's eyes met Gannon's immediately. "I told you he wouldn't let you get away with this." She already knew who was holding them up.

Ingram sneered. "I'll be back in three minutes. Five at the most." He promised, hopping from the carriage. "Watch her closely." He warned the man in the carriage before slamming the door. Ingram turned around and forced a smile at the approaching Link.

"Leaving so soon." Link's voice feigned politeness. "I was hoping you could stay longer."

The rain pelted down on the both of them, but neither seemed to notice. "I must get home soon. I have business to tend to and it must be done before the rain gets any worse."

"Aw, what a pity." Link said sarcastically, his fake smile dropping. "Where's Malon, Gannondorf?"

Ingram chuckled throatily. "Gannondorf? Are you blind, sir? Do you need your eyes checked? I'd be happy to appoint you to a very experienced eye doctor."

With his sword drawn, Link glared. "You have about three seconds to hand her over."

"If I don't?" Ingram's voice was thin.

"I kill you." Link growled.

An amused smile graced Ingram's face. "And if I do?"

Link gripped his sword tighter, ready for one of the battles of his life. "I kill you."

"Well I think we're just going to have to go for the other alternative." Ingram dropped his large black shawl, revealing a sword sheathed at his waist.

"And what's that?" Link's brows furrowed, settling right above the start of his nose.

"Me killing you." Ingram slowly drew his sword. "I never wanted it to be this way. But if you insist on stepping in my way, I guess my plans can do without you."

Link grinned mischievously. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Likewise." He swung his sword quickly at Link, unrevealingly surprised when Link blocked the blow with his own sword.

"Let her go, Gannon. This is between you and I." Rainwater rushed down his face as he fought against the pressure Ingram was putting on his sword. The blade was inching closer and closer to his face.

"It is between her and I." Ingram pushed Link away, smirking as the boy stumbled back.

With a heroic yelp, Link launched at Ingram, the swords clinking together in the stormy weather. Ingram pulled away, swinging for Link's chest but being blocked yet again. Link grunted as he slammed his sword against Ingram's and pushed the Gannon in disguise up against the carriage, the driver of the black vehicle hopping out of the way to avoid the wild blades.

"Let her go." Link spat, inches away from Ingram's face. The blade, less inches away than that as he struggled against Ingram's power to cut his throat.

Ingram just grinned. He seemed to not be struggling at all. "I'm afraid I can't do that." With a big shove, he pushed Link away causing the hero in green to slide across the muddy ground after hitting it with a hard thud. Then slowly, reverting to his form of Gannondorf, he dropped his sword and extended one hand, a yellow ball forming in his palm.

Link watched in awe from his spot on the ground as the magical ball grew. And his eyes widened as the ball began flying towards him, full force. He slid out of the way just in time for the ball to hit the ground, blowing up the wet dirt he had recently been laying on.

He hopped to his feet, his brows furrowed at what he'd just witnessed. "What are you?"

He chuckled evilly, his eyes glowing with an evil brightness. "Your worst nightmare come true." He held out his hand, another yellow ball forming in the palm. "I would let you say goodbye to my love, but I'm not that nice of a man." His deep voice informed.

Link held his sword in batters position and as soon as the yellow light flew towards him, he swung at the power ball but it made no use. The powerful source sent him soaring into the house behind him, back first, his sword falling from his hands and crashing into the ground in two pieces. His consciousness rapidly leaked from his body as he hit the ground stomach first, the movement knocking the wind out of him.

It took all of his strength for him to raise his head and hold out his hand as he watched Gannon climb into the carriage with a triumphant stride. "Malon." He whispered brokenly before falling out, his cheek platting in the mud as it showered endlessly on his body.

When Gannon opened the door and climbed into the carriage, the winning smirk on his face, Malon frowned, tears blurred her eyes. "Where is Link? What did you do to him?" She questioned in fear.

Gannon brightened his smile at her. "I showed him not to get in my way." She leapt towards the door, but he caught her in his arms. "I don't believe I can let you do that."

She caught a glimpse of her lover laid out in the rain, his body limp and lifeless. "Link!" She yelled as Gannon held her back from opening the door. "Link! Get up! Link!"

But he just lay there. He couldn't hear her anymore.


	7. Chapter 7: Seeing Is Believing

He could hear the small murmuring of voices as he stirred from sleep. He was intending to open his eyes, but the searing pain in his head was begging that he do otherwise. Groaning groggily, he rubbed at his temple. Then, he remembered what happened.

"Malon?" He questioned with a slur, sitting upright instantly. His eyes shot open and he saw a few buzzes of light scurry out of his vision and behind a rock that he could barely make out. At that moment, he realized that he had no real idea where he was. It looked as if it were a rocky cave of some sort. Dark and dewy, like the underground.

"Malon?" He stood up slowly, not pretending that the ache in his body was unnoticed. Another ball of flashing light zoomed past him, and he could have sworn he heard it giggle.

"What the…?" He reached for his sword but it wasn't there. Again, he remembered where it was. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"This is a fairy's cavern." A small, girlish voice said. "We brought you here to rescue you. You were unconscious and soaking in the storm that just passed. We couldn't let you expire." It explained.

"So how do I get out of here?" He queried rather hastily. "I need to find someone very important."

"I would think we should get acquainted first."

Link sighed softly. "I am Link of Kokori Forest."

"Are you the Hero?" A small voice asked. "The Hero of Time?"

Squinting his eyes, he looked towards the rock. "I believe so. Why?"

"I've been waiting." Slowly, a glow of light rose from behind the rock. "I am Navi."

"You're a fairy." He said quietly. He hadn't truly spoken nor seen them up close. Everyone else in the Forest had gotten fairies and when he was little, he wondered why until the King himself had told him that he was indeed not one of the Kokori people, he was sent there when he was little because evil forces had been trying to take him.

"And not just any fairy. Your fairy." Easily, she began floating closer to him. "And I am here to lead you on your path."

"What path?" He questioned warily, the urge to swat her out of his face tempting.

"You know of nothing that you are intended, do you?" Shaking her small head, she sighed. "You are to retrieve the Master Sword and slay the Destroyer of Time. The one who holds the Triforce of power."

Looking completely confused, Link shook his throbbing head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The powerful Gannondorf!" She screeched in impatience. "Have they told you nothing?!"

"Pardon me if my head is a little out of whack right now, little one." He told her with an unconscious rub of his temple. "It is just that there is much weighing on my mind right now."

"I can see." She sighed. "You have been out for two days." He looked much different than she had expected, much younger at that. But already, she had taken an instant liking to him.

His eyes widened in alarm. "Two days?!" His heart wrenched with worry. "Malon."

"For now, she is fine. But we must hurry if you wish to save her." Flitting back over to the rock, "Halo, Shansii, come out already. He is who we presumed." From behind the rock, a blue and green light floated into sight.

"Then you must be off." Halo spoke solemnly, her voice silky.

"We wish you home, Navi." Shansii said sadly. "We will miss you." She bowed her head in good riddance.

"I should try my best to return." Bowing her tiny head, she flew back over to Link with a sigh. "Let's be off, now. We have much to discuss."

"I need to find Malon, fairy." Link spoke in urgency, her name slipping his mind.

"Of course, but you would have to get her out of the grasp of the Destroyer and he, you cannot face alone. You must unlock the Temple of Time." She started quite rudely. "And by all means, I am to be addressed as Navi, not _fairy_." She reminded with a slight temper.

"I'm truly sorry, Navi, but I am worried about Malon." He said sincerely, rubbing the back of his sore neck. He had not known that things would get so complicated. "If anything were to happen to her, the strength to do anything else would cease." He thought about what she had probably been enduring for the last two days and shuddered at the thought. He would destroy Gannon.

"Which is why you must find her, or else Hyrule would face great danger." After a moment of silence and buzzing near his head to give them light in the dark fairy cavern, she glanced at him. "You are not afraid to face Gannon?" Her question was out of curiosity and probably a little admiration. His main concern seemed to be Malon and not the danger of what he was to do. The goddesses had surely picked a great hero.

He shook his head surely and truthfully. There was only one thing he was scared of. "I am only afraid of losing Malon. She is my life."

Navi gave him a small smile. "I will do whatever I can to make sure we find her."

"As will I." Link promised himself.

"She is feisty, Gannondorf." Falco, one of Gannon's trusted minions stated. He was holding Malon, one arm wrapped around her waist and arms and the other covering her mouth.

Gannon stalked towards the squirming woman, his eyes narrowed in malice. "My poor angel." He said in mock sadness, running a finger along her cheek. "He isn't coming. Don't you know that I killed him?" With a flick of his hand, he ordered Falco to release her.

The tall, burly man threw her onto the ground before Gannon. She got on her hands and knees and heaved heavily. "He is not dead." She spoke harshly. "He is going to kill you." She looked up at the tall, greenish man through the disheveled mess of her hair. "And I will greatly enjoy watching." She spat.

He laughed evilly and grabbed her by the hair on her head, standing her up until she was dependent on her tippy-toes. He pulled her face closer to his, glaring down at her with gritted teeth. "I take that as a no to my proposal of marriage." His voice was calm though his features were not.

She smiled emotionlessly, ignoring the pain he was causing. Staring straight into his evil eyes, she answered him. "Never in my living days."

He released her, letting her starving, thirst-ridden body crumble to the floor. "Falco, return her to her headquarters."

"Why don't you give up?!" She yelled, weakly struggling against Falco.

"You are a fool, Malon." He started, turning his back to her. He had to devise a plan if he ever wanted her to marry willingly.

"You are!" She screamed back passionately. "To think I'd actually marry you!"

"You are more of a fool to not." He shook his head and turned to her, waving his hand at Falco to stop his movements. "I would only require your services for a short time." If he had to resort to tall tales, then he would.

Her mouth gaped open in disgusted shock. "What services?!" She sounded appalled.

He chuckled lowly. "Not those services, dear. I can always get that elsewhere." He gave her a pensive look. "I would only need you to accompany me to the Fortress of the Gerudo." He lied. "Once they see that I have married, I would let you on your way."

"And why me? Couldn't you find a willing partner?" She didn't quite believe him. There had to be more to the story. He wouldn't struggle all this time with an unwilling mistress just for that, she thought.

"I'm sure you would want the great deal of wealth and power that comes along with my name." He started, walking toward her. "I know of your father's situation. Wouldn't you love to have the power to exclude Ingo from the ranch?"

She scowled at him. "What gives you that power? How do you know of my father's situation?" The thought intrigued her, but he was evil and she knew there had to be a catch.

"I know very much. More than one would think." He smiled. "I am the King's right hand man. I have suggested a many of things and he has always took see to my suggestions. Being as my wife, I could assist you." His fingers formed a steeple below his chin.

Stubbornly, her eyes clouded over with hot tears. Her arms were still being held by Falco. Every thing was all screwed up. She hated crying. "And…and what of Link?"

He gave her a fake, sympathetic look. "He is gone, my dear. You should learn to cope with the loss. I am extremely sorry it had to come to the death of him. But you must protect those whom you still are able, wouldn't you agree?" He struggled to hide his smirk of triumph over that cowering fool.

She closed her eyes, still not sure if she could handle the thought of Link actually being dead. For some reason, she couldn't come to believe it had happened. Whether it was denial or fate, she did not know. "No." She breathed the word calmly. "I won't marry you."

He waved his hand at Falco in slight anger. "I'm sure you'll change your mind." He told her and watched as Falco dragged her off. "Or I'll change it for you." He whispered to himself. He had to marry her. He had to tie her to him, for when the time came, she could give him what he knew that she would hold. Without the possibility of someone finding out he was withholding her. His plans would come to ruin if the kingdom knew what he had planned.

His eyes narrowed. He _had_ to marry her.

Link purchased a horse by the name of Efron from Kakariko Village. His face suggested that he was deep in thought. Navi glanced at him from her spot on his shoulder sadly. She knew what his thoughts were by the look on his face. "You love her dearly, don't you?"

Distracted, he turned toward her briefly. "Yes . Why?"

"You seem extremely worried." She noted, biting her lip. "I have been sent from the goddesses to assist you in completing your tasks and I will do just that." She spoke with a fierce determination.

"I thank you." He nodded sincerely. "I don't believe I could do this alone anymore." Looking troubled, he shook his head as he hopped onto the horse. "I promised her that I would never let another thing harm her." He winced as he thought about where she was and who she was with.

"You nearly died trying to keep that promise." She reminded in admiration. "Any other man would have. But your strength and courage over powers you. I believe you make a perfect hero."

"I can't help but feel as if I've let her down." He told Navi sadly. "She is probably…terrified. Alone, with that monster. Had it might've been better if I never had admitted my feelings?" He couldn't help but wonder. "I feel responsible for her situation."

"No one is responsible but that despicable monster." She told him surely. "Besides, the prophecies have mostly come into action. Mostly, the way that they were intended." Smiling over at him, she sighed. "This would have happened anyway."

"I've quite figured that out." He grumbled lowly. "Fate is not very friendly."

"Don't say that." Navi encouraged. "There may be better times ahead."

After a moment of silence and after leaving the village, Link sighed. "Where are we headed?"

"To the Temple of Time." She declared. "It is just after Hyrule Castle."

"Gannon will surely know of my whereabouts when I go." He told her worriedly, more for what he might do to Malon if he knew that he was coming.

"We will be taking a shortcut. He won't be able to see you." She smiled. "I know my way around very well."

"And when we get there, what will happen?" He asked.

"For that, we will have to see." The smiling triumph left her voice.

He looked over at her on his shoulder. "You sound indecisive. Something could go wrong, could it not?"

"There is always that possibility." She said quietly. "But I don't think that will be the case. I have met you."

"And…?" His face showed confusion.

"And I believe that you will not let Hyrule down. I know you won't." She whispered the last part. "You are too brave to die. You are truly the hero."

Link laughed a little at that. "Daft would be the proper word."

"It is not daft to fight for what you love." She corrected, flitting to the horses head, facing Link. "It is plain bravery."

Settling for her words, he sighed. "How long will the journey be?"

"Not long at all." She crossed her small legs and leaned back on her hands. "We should be there by dusk."

"I should try to hurry before then." He gripped the reigns tighter and kicked his feet, urging the horse faster.

Nearly loosing her balance, Navi held out her wings fluttering to keep her in place. "By this rate, we should be there before the next two minutes." She laughed lightly.

He genuinely smiled at the small woman. "That is my intention, Navi."

Malon sat in the hole of her doom in the corner, her knees pulled up to her chin. She sighed as she stared from the small window that she had been graced. Her arm could barely fit through it let alone her body. She sighed again and rested her cheek on her knee. Poor Link. He had most likely died trying to defend her. Every time she thought of it, it made her want to sob. But she held it in, because if she cried, she'd be mourning. And she still had that small spark of hope that he'd woken up from where he was and was coming to get her.

"He's dead." Falco said evilly, glancing through the bars of the door as if he could read her thoughts. "Never to return, in another term."

"Oh, he will come. And you will be sorry." She promised evenly, glancing his way.

Falco laughed arrogantly. "Pathetic."

"You'll think that when he comes." She stood to her feet. "Because he will come."

"Why don't you just marry Gannon? You could send out a party in search of him as Gannon's wife." He lied shamelessly, as Gannon had told him.

That piqued her interest. "What?"

Falco dramatically checked his surroundings before looking to her again. "Gannondorf didn't want to tell you, but that's what he meant earlier. You'd have greater authority than you do now."

"And how do I know if you're a liar?" She eyed him warily. "Why would you aim to aid me?"

"Honestly, I am tired of you fighting me every time I am ordered to retrieve you." He smirked sheepishly. Holding out his thick arm, he revealed scratches. "You are a hell cat."

Raising one brow, she eyed him plainly. "You deserve it if nothing else."

"I wouldn't disagree with you. I simply just follow orders." He shrugged listlessly.

Standing quietly for a minute, she sighed. "I fear he may kill me." She whispered. "Would he?"

"He would not." He said, though he was truly unsure.

She rolled her eyes with a grunt of disgust. "I dread sleeping next to him. Honestly, I hate him. He tried to kill the only man I ever loved."

"I believe he did." He told her softly. "But I don't permit you not to believe otherwise. If you should want to search for him, you should use the resources you are being offered. You could always run away from him." He suggested.

She stared into the dark eyes of his, trying to see if he was seemingly befriending her. "This is odd. Why are you telling me these things? I thought he was your higher?"

"He is. But that doesn't mean I condone with his ways." And honestly, he wasn't lying about that. "I just do as I'm told, Lady." Noting her face of inquiry, he took a step away. "Remember what I've said."

She watched him walk away, dreadfully considering her options.

He rode up to the old, abandoned looking temple and stopped. "I believe we're here." He informed his light-lit friend.

She flew up eyeing the place. "I believe you are correct. Come." She urged, flying towards it.

He hopped from the back of Efron, his eyes never leaving the temple. It looked old, as if it should've fallen apart ages ago. But it vaguely looked familiar. "As close as this place is…I've never seen it." He told her gently. "But I believe I've dreamt of it…" He walked up the old cracked stairs and to the tall doors. Turning the knob, he opened one, the creak was loud and noisy.

Navi flew inside first. "It is old. It has been waiting for you." She told him as he stepped inside.

His boots tapped against the aged tile. "It is completely empty, Navi." He noticed.

"There," she pointed, "is where you must go." Three jewels floated in the air over a stone-inscribed mantle: green, red and blue. The two of them seemed drawn to their magical, reflecting light.

"What are those?" He asked cautiously.

She eyed him confusedly. "You do not know?"

He glanced at her, unsure if he was supposed to know or not. "What?"

With a tinge of sympathy, she sighed. "Link, you're father…he was the one who retrieved those stones. They opened the sacred doors to the temple."

"My father?" He whispered in utter awe. "How…?" He'd never even knew he had a father. All he could remember, and even those thoughts were vague, was talk of his mother around the town.

"Your father's name was Draven. He was no younger than you when he was slain ruthlessly by traitors of theGerudo." She explained carefully, sadly. "You were his only blood. You were inside of your mother when it all happened. When you were born, you were christened by the goddesses with his courage."

"And my mother?" He asked, his throat clogging at the news. He wanted to know more of his parents who he had no idea were of great importance up until now.

"She died during birth." She announced morosely. "Though it is believed…that someone devised her death." She eyed him evenly, readily. "Namely Gannondorf." She stared at him knowingly.

And then he understood her. "So he tried to kill me even then?" His fists balled in fury at her silent answer. "I will kill him."

"It is the only way that Hyrule will be freed of the impending doom it faces." She said desolately. "And I am sorry that you had not been forewarned of this information. I was led to believe that you'd know before the day came."

"What day?" He asked distractedly, eyeing the jewels that his heroic father had once touched.

"This day." She nodded her miniature head towards the jewels. "The doors are open…it is time for you to proceed."

Flexing his fingers, he eyed the doors angrily. "And proceed I will." He gritted, storming to the door. He stopped just before them when he noticed that Navi was not following him. "Are you coming?" He asked, turning towards her.

"I am not allowed." She stated sympathetically. "But I wish you luck."

Swallowing hard, he nodded and stepped closer to the doors, but they opened themselves. From the doorway, the dark room held nothing but a sword in the middle of it. And the sword was stuck in a stone, a paranormal stream of light shining upon it. Link gazed, it was beautiful.

Then, some sort of gravitational pull was urging him towards the sword. He listened. He followed. He slowly ascended the three steps until he stood directly before the sword. Then, he heard a soft woman's voice.

_It is meant for you to be here. It always has been. With this access, you have been chosen as the key holder of the Triforce of Courage and only you can unlock the power of the Master Sword._

Link swallowed and looked towards the dark ceiling that he couldn't even see. "Who are you?"

_You__ will__ know__ in time__. But for now, you must defeat Gannondorf and retrieve his piece of the Triforce._

"What piece is that?" He whispered to the voice.

_The Triforce of Power._

"Then where is theTriforce of Wisdom?" He wondered aloud.

_You will know to look where__ scars are healing._

"What?" He didn't understand.

_Take hold of the sword, Link. It is in your destiny._

He glanced at the shining, silvery blade before clenching his fists. "Here goes nothing." He murmured before grabbing the handle. He pulled at first, but there was no budge. Then, as it slid from the fitted cut in the stone, a large bright light began to swallow him. The power was strong. So strong that it stole a loud yell from his lungs. Staring into the air with the sword in his hands, he watched helplessly as the brightness engulfed him.

Falco accompanied Malon into the main room, where Gannon stood near the hearth. They stopped near the doorway.

"I am to believe you wish to speak with me." Gannon spoke without even turning to her.

"Yes." Holding her head high, she glared at his back. "After thoroughly considering your offer I've…I've come to the conclusion that I see fit."

Turning to her with a sheer look of disbelief, he crossed his arms. "And that is…?"

She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "I will marry you. Under one condition."

His eyebrow twitched upward. "And that is?"

"I am not obligated to consummate the marriage." Her eyes held his evenly.

He nodded quickly. "Of course. There would be no obligation, my dear."

"Very well." Never looking away from him, she narrowed her gaze. "Might I have a bite to eat? Surely you wouldn't starve your betrothed."

"Never would I dream of it." Smirking, he flicked his hands towards Falco. "Retrieve supper for the lady and myself."

"Of course." Falco bowed and slid a look at Malon's eyes before leaving.

"Come." Gannon motioned to the fireplace. "Join me by the fire."

Forcing a smile, Malon obliged. Surely, she'd find a way to break him down. What better way to do it than to marry the lout? She'd find out his secrets and then she'd report them to the king. A smirk of victory almost took her over. She wasn't as daft as he thought.


End file.
